A Dragon's Child
by shadizsato
Summary: After the GMG and the defeat of Motherglare, everyone is settling into a rhythm, everyone except Natsu. Natsu finds himself torn as he watches children without a family grow up. Does he have what it takes to give one of them a home, or will he even be given the chance? (Cover art is not mine, but borrowed from iRawrrYew on deviantart.) Unknown shippings so far!
1. The Beginning

**I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does!**

**I have had this idea running through my head for quite some time and I decided it was time to put those thoughts to paper. Let me know how much you like, or dislike, this is if you want me to post further chapters!**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Beginning**

It was finally over, not only had Fairy Tail come out on top of the Grand Magic Games, but they had defeated future Rogue and Motherglare. It hadn't taken long for the guild to return to normal however, fights and drinking abundant. The only thing that Natsu could think to do to pass his time was to go on consecutive jobs. It wasn't the same without his friends though. Looking back over the past few days, nothing had been the same. His partner, and best friend, no longer had enough time to go on jobs with him. She was constantly out of the guild, claiming she was seeing someone. Juvia had finally forced Gray to either admit his feelings for her or let her go, and without a second thought, Gray had asked her on a date. He denied his feelings for the woman still, but for the two, it was a step up in their relationship.

Erza was another problem all around. She was more than willing to fight alongside Natsu, but her mind was off on another person, in another place. Even with her joining Natsu on his missions, he still felt alone. Two weeks ago he had stopped asking her to go with him, though he wasn't sure that she entirely noticed anyways. Happy hadn't left Carla's side since they had gotten back to Magnolia, having finally reached a point in his relationship with the Exceed where she didn't mind spending time with him. Natsu was ecstatic for his friends, he had never seen any of them happier and it only brought a larger smile to his face when he saw them.

Said Dragon Slayer sat on the edge of the bar while watching the Guild interact with one another until his eyes finally fell upon the small child that was sitting on top of one of the tables not too far off. Asuka was a near clone of her mother except for the fact that she had her father's hair. The small child noticed Natsu watching her and smiled brightly before waving over at him excitedly. He smirked slightly and gave her a small wave. He couldn't help but overhear her parents talking in the background.

"Please Mira? We only need a couple of hours to ourselves; we haven't been on a date since before the games." Bisca asked the white haired barmaid.

Mirajane was quickly running around the guild, serving alcohol and food. She stopped long enough to lean on the counter and wipe sweat from her brow before shaking her head. "I'm sorry, but unless you feel alright with leaving Asuka here at the guild, I don't think I have time to watch over her." Breathing a sigh, Mirajane bent over behind the bar and grabbed a barrel, dropping it on the counter in front of Cana.

"We understand Mira, thanks anyways. We can always find someone else." Bisca said with a sad smile before scanning who was leftover in the guild. She caught sight of her daughter staring at Natsu and developed a genuine smile, if somewhat mischievous. "Natsu?" She called over to him.

The Dragon Slayer turned from the little girl to look at her mother, tilting his head to the side. "What can I do for you Bisca?" He asked hopping off the bar and making his way over to her curiously.

"Well Azlack and I are in need of a little time to ourselves and we need someone to watch Asuka for a few hours." Bisca said sweetly.

Natsu raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't understand. What do you need from me? Why don't you take her with you?" He looked between Bisca and her daughter, not understanding what was taking place.

Bisca sighed and waved a hand in the air, trying to come up with the right words. "We need a little Adult time…" She said bluntly. The look on Natsu's face told her he still didn't understand. "Do you think you could watch her for us?"

"Doesn't Mira or Lisanna usually watch her?" Natsu asked.

"Mira and Lisanna are busy. Would you mind watching her for just a couple of hours?" She asked flashing her eyes at him.

"Something wrong with your eyes?" Natsu asked furrowing his brows. Bisca huffed indignantly at his ignorance of her attempts to bring him into what she wanted him to do. "I don't mind watching her though."

Bisca's eyes widened slightly but she smiled brightly before throwing her arms around Natsu's shoulders, pulling him into a tight hug. "You have no idea what this means to us. I promise we will make it up to you."

Natsu gently hugged her back with one arm and chuckled. "I'm just surprised you would want her to be watched by me. Surprised you trust me enough with her." He said when she let him go and cast a look over to the small child.

The girl giggled when she saw him watching her and ran over to her parents, hiding behind her mother's legs. She peeked around them up at Natsu. "Honey, Natsu here is going to watch you while Daddy and I go out for a little while. Are you okay with that?" Her mother asked, Asuka nodding happily and smiling in a way that only reminded him of her mother.

Natsu squatted down and held his arms out to her, picking her up to toss her on his shoulder to look back at her parents. He flashed them a bright smile. "I'll take good care of her, you two have fun." He watched as the two gave their daughter a quick kiss before turning hand in hand and heading from the guild. "What do you want to do, Asuka?" He asked the girl on his shoulder.

"Let's play hide and seek!" She cried out before dropping to the ground in front of him. "Count to ten then come and find me!" Natsu smiled and closed his eyes before he started counting.

Natsu didn't know when it had happened, but somewhere in the time that he had been watching Asuka, he found that he wasn't just watching her because he had been asked to. It felt good to have someone rely on him, if only for just a few hours. Darkness had set over the guild long ago and Natsu found that he couldn't move from where he sat against the wall across from the bar, Asuka lying against his chest fast asleep. He sighed and smoothed out her hair while she slept, enjoying the small sleeping girl hanging off of him.

As soon as he heard the sounds of someone cooing he shot a glare up to see that Mirajane was watching him with the small girl. Setting a firm gaze over to the barmaid, Natsu couldn't help but smile. He could feel several sets of eyes on him and looked around to see others pointing up at him. Men laughed, but the women smiled at him, whispering things along the lines of 'Between them, I don't know which one is more childish', 'He is so cute to play with her like that', and 'Could you picture Natsu as a father?'

If he hadn't been afraid of waking the small child up, he would have screamed at them, instead resorting to shaking his head, speaking in a low tone that wouldn't travel too far. "I can hear you, you know that right?" More giggles ensued, angering Natsu even further.

Grumbling to himself, Natsu looked over at the clock, noticing it was a few hours past when he had expected Bisca and Azlack to return for their daughter. Looking down at the girl against his chest, Natsu shook his head. The guild wasn't a place for the girl to sleep the night off; he had to take her somewhere better. He motioned Mirajane over to him and asked her where he should take her.

"Why not take her back to your place?" She suggested sweetly.

"Too unsafe." He said bluntly, knowing full well that his house looked like a hurricane had gone through it. "Besides, I don't have a bed for her to sleep in; all I have is Happy and my hammocks."

Mirajane looked up at the ceiling as she thought about his choices. "Tell you what, take her to one of the spare beds in the back, Azlack and Bisca should be here in a little while to get her."

Natsu nodded and held the girl to him before taking her into the back room, lying her down and tucking her in. He sat down on the edge of the bed and gently rubbed her hair while she slept. Looking down at the small child, Natsu couldn't help but wonder what it felt like to have someone look up to you like Asuka did to her parents. Everyone had seemed to move on without him realizing it until recently. Shaking the thought from his head, Natsu lost track of time until he heard Bisca asking about her daughter.

Poking his head out of the door he waved the couple over. Watching the two pull Asuka into their arms, Natsu sighed and shook his head. They couldn't have looked happier in that moment. He stood there for a few moments before leaving the three to themselves and heading out of the guild, giving his goodbyes to everyone that was left over.

* * *

Natsu sat frozen in his chair. His partner had finally brought her boyfriend to the guild, but he hadn't expected this. No, this was far harder to deal with than he had thought. Anyone other than this blonde Dragon Slayer would have been fine. He could have dealt with it if it had been Gray, but this was too much. "Everyone, we have an announcement!" Lucy called out, drawing Natsu from his haze. "Sting here is going to take a small break from Sabertooth to help us with a few things. So make him feel welcome!"

Natsu felt his face pale. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to process the situation. Suddenly it dawned on him how petty he was being. He should have been happy for her, not worrying about what had happened in the past between the two of them.

Idle conversations started to strike back up after the initial shock of the new temporary member and Natsu left the couple to go pick a new job from the board. He barely listened to Mirajane's off-hand comment about the cute couple before sliding a randomly picked job over at her. "Are you okay Natsu?" She asked, seeing his withdrawn attitude.

Natsu flashed a quick smile, giving her an offhanded wink to throw her off a little. "Never better, Mira. I should hopefully be back by tomorrow night. I'll be waiting to hear about what happens when I'm gone." Before she could respond to him, the Dragon Slayer turned and jogged out of the guild.

Mirajane sighed and shook her head at the Dragon Slayer as he ran off. "Good luck…" She whispered.

Natsu only slowed when he had put a large distance between himself and the guild, his fists clenching despite the fact that he had told himself he needed to get over the past. Slow even breaths calmed him down until he could think about something other than the new guild member. He focused on the job at hand, heading to the train station. This was bound to be a long and tiring mission.

* * *

Natsu finally drug himself off the train, wishing that he had taken the time to ask Wendy to cast Troia on him to prevent his motion sickness. Shaking off the last remaining effects from the train, Natsu quickly made his way to the address on the flier. He stopped dead in front of the building, looking down at the job flier and then up at the building. It seemed that he was in the right place. He could only sigh in dismay at his luck of having chosen a job that had nothing to do with fighting, but at least some manual labor would be enough to clear his mind.

As soon as he stepped through the threshold of the building he stopped and had to look back down at the flier in his hand to reread it. His short hesitation was enough to catch all eyes though. "Who are you?" One of the older boys yelled, planting himself directly in front of Natsu.

"I'm Natsu, I'm here for…" Natsu gestured with the flier in his hand. "There was a request to come see a Clarissa, do you know where she is?"

The boy frowned, but finally relented. "I'll go get her, stay here and don't break anything." Natsu huffed in irritation, but kept his place next to the doors to survey the kids inside. There had to be at least two dozen children running around doing tasks here and there or simply sitting at tables coloring. Strangely enough, just watching them all go about their business succeeded in taking his mind off the Guild.

"Excuse me?" Natsu flinched at the voice and he turned to see an older woman standing next to the boy he had met earlier. "Are you here about the job flier?" She inquired. Natsu hummed in acknowledgement and handed over the flier to her. The woman sighed in relief and smiled brightly. "Thank goodness, I was just about to lose hope that we wouldn't find any help soon."

"Well, I'm here now so what do you need me to do?" Natsu asked pointedly, not trying to be rude, but still trying to get to the point.

"Yes, yes, we need a little help around the orphanage. What with there being no men around, we need someone to chop some wood, tend to a few repairs, and I also need help in occupying some of the older children. Does this sound like something you are capable of?" She asked tiredly.

The more Natsu looked at the woman, the more he could see that she wasn't actually that old, but rather she was overworked and was just worn out. "Yeah, I can do that." Natsu replied pumping his fist in the air. "You can count on me!"

Clarissa clapped happily. "Thank goodness. Winter, would you mind getting together the other boys and giving Mr. Natsu here a hand?" Winter nodded and ran off to the other kids. "There are logs in the back; if you could get started there I would very much appreciate it."

"No problem, Clarissa. It's my job after all." He said grinning. "Winter!" He called out, waving at the young boy. "Meet me out back!" The boy nodded as Natsu ran out the back door.

After a few minutes Winter came out back with six other older boys, each of them taking up an axe. Natsu frowned at them, not understanding why they weren't smiling; it seemed like fun to be around so many of your friends at once. He shrugged and went back to work by setting up a large log on top of another. With a roar of power, Natsu brought his hand down on the top of the log, splitting it in half.

"Whoa…" Winter muttered. "That was cool, how did you do that?"

"Huh?" Natsu asked confused. "What? This?" He stood the two halves of the log back up and attacked them again in two rapid strikes breaking them in half, then in half again, leaving them in eights of what they had originally been. "I'm a mage, this is nothing!"

"What else can you do?" Winter asked, fully intrigued now. Natsu chuckled and lit a fire into his fist, drawing attention from all of the boys outside, all of them setting down their axes to ask Natsu questions about what it meant to be a mage.

By the time Natsu was done with the tasks he had been given, he had ended up burning more logs than he had actually cut, and though he had managed to complete the repairs, he had caused more damage to the wooden supports in the building.

"Thanks for what you did today; I can't tell you how much we appreciate having someone else here. Especially Winter and the other boys, they have taken a liking to you." Clarissa admitted, sinking into a chair tiredly. "Hopefully with what you have done for us today we can bring more willing parents in to come and adopt more of the kids. It's sad to see them all without families other than each other."

Natsu sat down next to her on a bench and cast a look over at the kids. "What do you mean adopt?"

"Their orphans, I'm trying to find them all loving parents." Clarissa said with a sad smile. "Can you imagine what it would be like to grow up without anyone to look after you as their own?"

Natsu looked down at the ground and felt his heart seize in on itself. "Yeah, it must be hard for them." He agreed, silently wondering where Igneel could possibly be at that point in time. He hoped his father was happy wherever he was, but also hoped that he would come home to him one day. "What are going to do if they don't find parents?"

"Take care of them until they can take care of themselves. At least that's the plan; maybe one of them will take over for me one day." Clarissa suggested halfheartedly. "Anyways, here is your reward, thank you for coming by and if you ever find yourself in town feel free to stop by again."

Natsu hummed and watched the kids for a few minutes longer before he stood up. "I should get going; I have to get back to the guild." Natsu stopped just before getting to the door. "Can anyone… adopt or is there some kind of requirement you have to meet beforehand?"

Clarissa smiled over at Natsu and shook her head. "We try to pair kids up with couples because there is a better chance that the couple will be able to support them. Single parents are nice too, but we won't just give a child to anyone, don't worry they are in good hands here. I won't just give them away."

A group of kids ran up to Natsu before he could leave, grouping together in front of the door. "Are you going to be coming by again Natsu?" One of the girls he had come to know as Myou.

Natsu smiled and patted her head as he passed on the way out. "I'll be back, don't worry."

True to his word, Natsu continued to head to the orphanage every day for the next three weeks. Not only did it give him a reason to be away from the guild, but he was starting to become friends with most of the kids. It saddened him at the same time, no matter how close he got to them; one by one they were being adopted.

On one hand he was ecstatic for them, happy that they were all getting families of their own; on the other hand he felt another pang of guilt that he wanted them to stay at the orphanage so he could see them more and have someone that depended on him.

* * *

Natsu kicked in the door to the guild, surprising those that were standing nearby. "Lucy!" He called out happily, his mind finally set.

The blonde in question broke away from Sting at the bar and turned to him. "What's up Natsu? Got another job you need help on?" She asked. "Not that I mind, but would you mind if Sting came along with us?" She asked with a small blush, holding the hand of the Dragon Slayer sitting next to her.

Natsu shook his head and took up her free hand. "I need just you for this, and it's not a mission."

Lucy cocked her head to the side but let herself be pulled towards the door. "What do you need Natsu?"

"I need you to help me get a kid." He responded with a large smile.

Lucy ripped her arm back from him. "What do you mean help you get a kid? You can't mean… you can't mean THAT!" She exclaimed.

Natsu looked back at her in confusion. "What do you mean by 'that'? Come on, it won't take that long, I only need your help for a couple of hours then you can go back to Sting." He said taking her hand again.

"Natsu, you do know how a kid is made right?" Lucy asked hesitantly, refusing to let him pull her along any further. "Besides, I'm with Sting, why would I do _that_ with you? We aren't even in a relationship. I'm saving myself for marriage." She said crossing her arms firmly in front of her.

Natsu groaned and turned on her. "What are you on about? I told you, it isn't like that, just… come on I want to get this out of the way."

"Look Natsu." Lucy said, her voice rising angrily. "I don't care that you don't have a girlfriend, you can't just go asking someone to make kids with you." A few eyes had turned to look at them at this point.

Natsu blushed in embarrassment. "Lucy, please, you are the only person I can ask of this. We are teammates aren't we?" He whispered back. "I wouldn't come to you if it wasn't important."

"No Natsu, I can't help you. Maybe we shouldn't be teammates if this is how you are going to act when I finally have a good guy to rely on."

Natsu flinched back. "You know what, maybe you're right." He admitted, making the blonde take a step back at how bluntly he had put it.

"Natsu, I'm sorry, maybe I was a little hasty saying that… Maybe…" She started but Natsu made a gesture to cut her off.

"No, you already said it; you don't need me acting like this when you '_finally have a good guy to rely on_'." Natsu said, hurt by what she had implied. "Go back to Sting, I'll find a way to do this by myself." He turned and left, alone.

The Guild sat in silence for a moment; finally it was Gajeel that spoke up. "That was… harsh bunny girl." He said quietly to her. "I don't think he even knew what you were going on about. I don't think Igneel told him about kids and how they are made."

"Maybe it's for the best." Lucy said, almost as if was meant for just herself. "He needs to find someone to rely on besides me." Still feeling bad about how it had gone down, Lucy went back over to the bar and sat next to Sting, but wasn't feeling in the mood to be lovey-dovey with him at the moment.

**Well? Does this deserve a follow up chapter to continue, or is the story stagnant where it left off?**

**I am sure you see where it is headed, but what will happen with it when it starts heading down that route. Does anyone want me to continue this?**


	2. Caught Red Handed

**I did not expect the demand there was for a continuation! Feel free to throw out suggestions for upcoming chapters and what you think should happen as I will be coming to my readers for certain decisions as it is. I am changing one part specifically to the outcome of the fight with Natsu and Future Rogue. Ultear's spell doesn't turn her into an old woman. That is all I'm saying about that, don't argue about it because I will ignore whatever you say about that subject. Everything else if fair game!**

**Chapter 2: Caught Red Handed**

* * *

_"Maybe it's for the best." Lucy said, almost as if was meant for just herself. "He needs to find someone to rely on besides me." Still feeling bad about how it had gone down, Lucy went back over to the bar and sat next to Sting, but wasn't feeling in the mood to be lovey-dovey with him at the moment._

* * *

Natsu shoved his hands into his pockets as he strode down the singular road that lead away from the guild. He continued to replay the scene in his mind. He knew she was attatched to Sting since he was her current boyfriend, but it hadn't been like he had asked her for her hand in marriage, or even asked her to leave Sting for him. Maybe he should go back and make it up to her, explain what he had really been asking of her.

The more he thought about it, the less he liked the idea. She should have trusted him, he wouldn't have asked her for anything like that, wouldn't have asked her for anything that she didn't want. He would never have forced something like actually becoming a mother on her, which would be her own decision in the end.

Even after Natsu had taken his seat on the train, his mind was too occupied for his body to fully understand that he was on the train and thus his motion sickness did not kick in right away. This only lasted a few moments until he realized where he was. He groaned and dropped his head between his legs. "Uungh…" He tried to swallow past the lump that was growing in his throat.

Natsu only barely saw the feet of someone walking past his seat, taking no interest in them when they stopped and turned to him. He had to close his eyes to keep the room from spinning any more than it already was. "Sir?" Natsu grunted in response. "Are you alright?" Something about the voice commanded him to look up, something in the back of his head told him that he should know who was behind it. He raised his head just enough to turn and look up at the woman standing over him, but couldn't get a good look at them. The woman's hooded cloak shadowed her face, but from the voice and figure he could determine that it was indeed a woman. "Natsu?" The voice screeched, taking a step back in surprise.

Natsu continued to look up at her, his brow furrowing in confusion. "Do I know… ugh…" He swallowed a bit of bile that threatened to slide further up his throat. "Do I know you?" He asked quietly, bringing his hand up to his mouth as he took a deep soothing breath. He heard a small giggle before she pushed her hood back. The first thing he saw was the bubblegum pink hair. "Meredy?" He mumbled, confused at seeing the pink haired girl on the train.

Meredy smiled at having him remember her, nodding enthusiastically. "Motion sickness kicking in again?" She asked worriedly. He nodded in defeat, dropping his head back between his legs again. "Wait here; I'll go get Ultear to see if she has anything to help you with it." Before he could tell her that it wouldn't help, the mage was gone. Natsu sighed and closed his eyes to focus on his breathing to ensure he would keep his food down.

After a few minutes Natsu heard two people sit down across from him. A pair of hands reached over and pressed to the sides of his head, lifting his eyes. Ultear smiled across at him, "This isn't the way for a hero to act, let me help you…" She released his head and dug into the bag that was sitting down by her feet and Natsu could hear multiple vials of glass clinking together as she dug around. Finally she came up with a small vial with neon green liquid in it. "You can thank Wendy for this one. With her help we managed to bottle a few of her Troia spells for emergency situations."

Natsu's eyes widened as he felt his nausea leave his body and the haze lift from his mind. "When did you find the time for that?" He asked curiously, taking the empty vial from Ultear to inspect it.

Ultear merely smiled and shrugged her shoulders innocently. "Nevermind that. What lead you to taking the train by yourself in the first place?"

Natsu stiffened, but tried to play it off by stretching his arms above his head with a yawn. "Solo mission for now." He lied, and judging by the weighted look the two women in front of him gave him, he knew they didn't believe it. He smiled shyly to them and shrugged his shoulders. "My partner wasn't feeling up to going on it with me so I went alone." He hated to lie to them, but he was only lying through omission of information rather than straight up lying to them.

"Well do you need any help? With the Council turning a blind eye to our pasts, I have found that we have a lot of free time that we used to spend hiding from patrols." Meredy admitted, still smiling happily at having met the Dragon Slayer on the train in the first place.

Natsu laughed and shook his head. 'No one would believe me if I brought one of them with me. Meredy looks too young and Ultear… Well she doesn't have that motherly look.' He thought to himself. "No worries, I can handle this one by myself. If you have the free time you should head over to Fairy Tail, I'm sure there are quite a few people there that would like to thank you for your help with the Games." He suggested with a bright smile.

The three continued with an array of small talk until an intercom in the train announced the arrival at Clover Town. Natsu stood up before the train rolled to a stop and thanked Ultear again for the spell for his motion sickness. Without another word he stepped off the train, touching down on the platform just as the train came to a stop. He darted off without another word, headed straight towards the orphanage. Ultear and Meredy shared a quizzical look before following Natsu with their eyes as he ran off, wondering where he was going in such a hurry.

* * *

Checking his surroundings, Natsu noticed that the sun was still hours away from reaching the highest point in the sky. He smirked and pushed his way into the orphanage, not bothering to knock this time around. Everyone already knew him well enough that he didn't feel the need to be polite anymore. No one took notice of his entrance so he strode into the large interior to step up behind a couple of the younger girls that were sitting at a table eating their breakfast. "Something smells good." He commented.

Myou squealed in excitement across the room upon hearing his voice, dropping her book on the table as she leapt up to run over to him. "Natsu!" She cried out happily, jumping into his awaiting arms. Natsu easily caught her and spun her around in a hug then sat her down on the edge of the table, giving the two girls he had walked up to a quick hug as well.

"I didn't expect to see you here today Myou, I heard you had an adoption get together with Winter." Natsu commented sitting down on the edge of the table next to her. "Don't tell me they thought you were too energetic again." He teased.

Myou shook her head and looked at the ground. "No, they said they didn't want a mage as a kid so they only adopted Winter." Her words were barely a whisper, but they rang loud and clear in his ears.

"You're a mage!" Natsu shouted standing up. "Since when? Why didn't you tell me!" Excitement shone in his eyes and he picked her up again, holding her up to the light as if he was checking to see if she was real or not. When he didn't see anything out of the ordinary he tossed her in the air excitedly, making her forget about her sadness at not having been adopted.

"I've known for about a month now that I wasn't like everyone else, but Clarissa and I couldn't figure out exactly what kind of magic I had. Not until yesterday that is." She admitted.

Natsu cocked his head to the side. "What happened exactly?" He inquired.

"Well…" Myou started to say, her voice dying out slowly. "Things around me started to hover in the air and when they asked about it everything fell to the ground. I can't control it yet and ever since then things have just started happening."

Natsu started to laugh, angering the young girl enough to make her hit him weakly with her fists on his chest. It only made him laugh all the more before catching her wrists. "Don't let anyone tell you that being a mage is wrong, nothing is wrong with you. If they can't see how special you are, then they don't deserve you. Hey, look at the bright side though, Winter got adopted!"

Myou sighed and pulled her hands away from Natsu and folded her arms across her chest with a pout. "It's not fair. If it wasn't for magic then I would have been adopted too. What did your parents say when they found out you had magic?"

Natsu chuckled nervously and looked at the small group of kids that had surrounded him. It was a question he was asked about a lot, about what his parents had been like when he was young and where they were now. He hadn't had the heart to tell them that he had grown up as an orphan not only once, but twice abandoned by his parents. It wouldn't do to put into their minds that even if they were adopted that they could be abandoned again. "I've always been encouraged to use my magic to the best of my abilities." He hated to lie to them about his parents, but it was true that he had been encouraged to increase his magical potential from all aspects of those around him. "Enough of that, where's Clarissa? I should get started on whatever she needs done today so when I'm done we can all play."

"She took some lady into her office a little while before you got here, someone else taking a mission she said." Another little boy answered, pointing to Clarissa's office towards the back of the building.

Natsu nodded and ruffled the boy's hair in appreciation. "Why don't you all finish your breakfast then you can help me with the chores." Natsu said sending all the kids back to their seats as he walked back to the office, knocking twice before poking his head inside. "Clarissa, what do you have for me to do today?"

The woman perked up from behind her desk, waving Natsu in. "Mr. Dragneel, so good to have you back today. We weren't expecting you to come back today, but it's good timing. I actually need to head out to do some grocery shopping. You can help miss…" She turned to the woman sitting in front of her. "I'm sorry I didn't catch your name when you came in."

It was the first time that Natsu had realized that she was actually sitting at the desk. He flinched back as she turned and smiled at him. "I didn't think I would ever see you in a place like this Natsu." She turned back to the woman and gave her a bright smile. "I'm Millianna of Mermaid Heel." Natsu stood frozen in place, wondering why the woman would have come here looking for a job, it had been a mistake that he had found his way there in the first place as it was.

"Yes, yes, Millianna, sorry." Clarissa said with an apologetic smile. "With the two of you here, Miss Millianna can watch the children while you patch up the mess you made the last time you were here. I will speak to the kids, but I need you to lead them in making a new sign for us to get ourselves more known Millianna." She said regaining her smile.

Millianna and Natsu both nodded and he left the two in the office while he went to get his supplies to repair the tables and flooring that he had broken in the previous days he was there. Millianna followed him out, a small skip in her step. Clarissa called out to the kids and informed them that she would be away for a couple of hours while Millianna watched them and for them to behave for her before grabbing her purse and heading out the front door.

Everything went smoothly for a little while until Natsu got bored of rebuilding the table and decided to go over and play with the kids while they worked on the sign with Millianna. He stood over her shoulder and looked down at what she was doing when a little girl walked up to Natsu and he picked her up and set her on his hip continuing to watch the kids draw. "Are you Natsu's girlfriend?" The girl blurted out.

Millianna dropped the paintbrush from her hand and looked up at the Dragon Slayer, surprise and anger in her eyes. "Why would you think that?"

Natsu dropped his gaze with a sigh, but the girl continued to talk. "Well he was telling us the other day about his partner in Fairy Tail and how they do everything together and you're a mage aren't you? You two seem to know each other, so I thought that if you two were together, then you would maybe think about adopting one of us. Natsu's been coming here for a while now, since before I got here even."

Millianna stood and took the girl from Natsu. "Sorry, honey, but no. Natsu and I aren't together, we barely know one another. Besides, I don't think you would want this guy as your dad, he does nothing but destroy everything he comes into contact with."

"Hey!" Natsu cried out trying to defend himself. Millianna set the girl down and looked over at Natsu expectantly, yet the Myou stepped up between them and cut him off. "I wouldn't mind it, he's the only one that ever comes by anymore. He's helped a lot of the ones that used to be here get adopted. Plus he's fun!"

Natsu groaned and grabbed the girl and threw her over his shoulder. "That's enough of that, enough bothering Millianna, you're coming with me." He gave an apologetic look over at Millianna. "I'll take a few of them off your hands for a while." He turned and started to walk out the front door, calling back over his shoulder. "Anyone else want to come?" Two of the five remaining kids ran to follow him.

Millianna watched the Dragon Slayer pick up the two and carry the three kids in his arms out the door, laughing wildly. She shook her head smiling and turned back to the three kids. "Let's finish this sign shall we? What should we add next?" She asked sitting back down on the ground.

* * *

Natsu made sure to pay extra attention to Myou, sensing her depression about not being adopted the day prior. He was conflicted on the matter, not knowing why he was relieved to see her still at the orphanage when he got there. It was true that he had taken a liking to the young girl, but for that matter he had wanted to adopt her the moment she had said no one wanted her because she was turning out to be a mage. He didn't want her because she was a mage, but because he wanted to show her that it didn't matter what you were but because everyone deserved a home.

The four of them walked down the block to a park where he watched them all play on the swings and other playground equipment. He smiled at the pure excitement of the children running around playing with one another when, out of the corner of his eye, Natsu caught sight of a pink blur. He spun on it and just barely saw a head of pink hair bouncing away next to a woman with long dark purple hair running in the opposite direction of him. He cursed under his breath at more people he knew seeing him with the kids. If they went to Fairy Tail and told everyone about what he was doing then someone might see what he was trying to do with Lucy and take pity on him to help him adopt a child, or worse, try to talk him out of it.

Swearing under his breath again he jogged over to the kids. "We should get back, we can't have you miss your adoption appointment Alex." The young boy jumped back and forth excitedly from one foot to the other. Natsu nodded his head towards the orphanage. "I'll race you all there come on." He waited until the three were a few feet ahead of him before taking off after them, letting them gain a little distance as he feigned exhaustion. Just as they were about to reach the orphanage he jumped over their heads and opened the door to let them inside.

Clarissa was back by the time Natsu and the kids returned, rushing back and forth as she set up a table off to the side of the room for where the meeting would take place. Alex ran over to Millianna who stood with a pair of clean clothes for him. Natsu helped Clarissa with setting everything up while Millianna took care of keeping the other children occupied.

Once the couple showed up Natsu and Millianna ushered the other children away so Clarissa could take care of the meeting without interruption. "Hey, you should read us a story!" Natsu suggested tossing a book to the other mage. He dropped onto the ground next to the wall with the other kids, grinning up at Millianna. She sighed, but smiled and took a seat on a chair in front of all of them in acceptance.

* * *

Natsu hugged Alex tightly, knowing that this would probably be the last time that he saw the little child. "You be good for your parents and maybe we'll see each other around town someday." Natsu offered letting the boy go. Alex nodded and grabbed his new mother's hand, offering his goodbyes to everyone else while leaving.

Clarissa stepped up next to Natsu and put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't think we would be this far along without your help every day, Mr. Dragneel."

Natsu scoffed at her. "How many times do I have to tell you to call me Natsu? You make it sound like I'm a stranger the way you talk to me."

"You're right, Natsu. I'm sorry about that, it's just the stress of this place. I'm not used to getting to know anyone that comes to help. I know you won't be around forever, so I just want to say thank you again for everything you have done for us."

Natsu debated about making his request known, worried that she would turn him down. "Hey Clarissa, what would you say if I wanted to adopt one of the kids as a last bit of help to this place?"

The woman pulled away from him in surprise. "I didn't know you were married Natsu, this is excellent news!"

"That's where we may have an issue…" He said weakly. "I know your rules on the matter, but I'm not married. I don't have anyone that I'm with. Before you say anything, I know I can support her. I've already raised a kid before, okay maybe not a kid, but I raised Happy from the time he hatched and he turned out just fine. He's just moved onto his own life and has a girlfriend now."

"Raising an animal is not the same thing as raising a person Natsu." Clarissa said wearily, trying not to insult him in case he wouldn't come around anymore just because she turned him down.

"Hey! Happy is a person too, he can talk, and he can fly. Besides, I may not have a wife, but I have an entire family to help me raise a child, the same family that I was with when I was found." He admitted to her. He had told her about his past, what with his original parents abandoning him and Igneel disappearing one day and his acceptance into Fairy Tail and having grown up there.

"You're talking about Myou aren't you?" Clarissa asked.

Natsu nodded and looked over at the girl that was sitting at one of the tables coloring in a book with some colored pencils. "I'm worried about her, these aren't the first people to turn her down, but this time it's because she has magic. If she doesn't find someone that acknowledges her potential, she may never know how far she can go. Plus, she has been here the longest out of those that are left and I want to give her everything I can."

Clarissa sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Why don't you give me a while to think about it? Come back in a few days and we can discuss it further. I know you mean well, but I need to think about what's best for her more than what you want." She turned a small glare over at the Dragon Slayer. "You know this would be so much easier if you would just find yourself a woman."

Natsu laughed and waved her off, dismissing the idea off. "I almost tried to trick you today." He admitted. "I was going to have a friend come in with me claiming to be my wife, but… She didn't feel like coming with me. Maybe it's for the best, I wouldn't want to start off on the wrong foot by lying from the get go. I'll see you in a couple days Clarissa; take care of them until then." He asked with a small smile.

* * *

Natsu knew something was wrong before he even reached the Guild doors after having left the orphanage just a few hours ago. It was too quiet, but he hoped that maybe everyone was just getting over a recent fight. He pushed the doors open and found Ultear and Meredy sitting at the bar and cursed under his breath once again at his luck. Wracking his mind, he decided to play it off like he hadn't seen them at the park and took a seat at the bar. "Mira, can I get some roasted chicken?" He asked the barmaid with his signature grin. Mirajane nodded and smiled back at him, disappearing into the back room to start his order.

Meredy wasted no time. "Did you have fun with the kids today?" She asked grinning from ear to ear. "I thought you said you were going on a solo job, not going to play with kids in park a few towns over."

Natsu shrugged his shoulders, thanking Mirajane for the plate of chicken that she laid out in front of him. "Don't judge me; I only wanted to have a little fun after I finished my job." He said, hoping they believed him. Mirajane looked at him knowingly, remembering the job flier he had taken a couple weeks prior. He gave her a dirty look to keep her mouth closed, but she only smiled devilishly and shook her head.

"We already know about what you've been doing Natsu, with what Meredy and Ultear saw today, it kind of put everything together for us." Mirajane teased. "I never pegged you as the fatherly type, more as a crazy uncle." Members around them started to chuckle, a few others bursting out laughing. "You don't have to hang out with little kids just because you're feeling lonely you know, you could have said something to us about it."

Natsu glared over at the take-over mage silently. He turned to look around at everyone giving him knowing looks as well and he pushed away from the food at the counter, still not having touched it. "I'm not trying to do this because I'm lonely. I think most of you would know where I'm coming from with this. I'm not just hanging out with them, I'm adopting one of them."

Smiles dropped into surprised expressions, one particularly from the Celestial Mage at the end of the bar. "Is that what that was about this morning?" Lucy asked hesitantly. "I thought… I thought you meant you wanted to have me have your child…"

It was Natsu's turn to smile. "We see just how well you took that idea too. I don't blame you though, what with you being in a relationship and all." He said, trying to ease her guilt at having turned him down so harshly.

"You could have asked us for your help Natsu." Meredy said from his other side. "Ultear and I would have helped you if you had asked. We both know what it's like to grow up without parents."

Natsu groaned and sat down at the bar again. "Just forget about it, I won't know for a couple of days anyways if Clarissa will even let me adopt Myou."

Mirajane squealed with glee. "A little girl? You have to tell me all about her, what does she look like? How old is she? Is she cute?" The questions continued to flood from Mirajane, only making Natsu smile to himself as he finally started to eat his food.

"I'll do you one better Mira, when I get the okay I'll bring her in to meet everyone." He offered. He didn't say it, but his heart seized up in his chest. There was always the possibility of Clarissa telling him that she didn't like the idea and wouldn't allow him to adopt.

"What about a mother?" Lisanna asked suddenly. "You want to give her a home, but what about a mother? Wouldn't it be best for her to have a mother and a father than just one or the other?"

Natsu frowned up at her. "I don't have a wife or anything so it isn't like I can just make one appear for her. Besides, with all the girls we have here at the guild, it'll be like she has ten moms!" He said finally smiling.

* * *

**Tune in for the next chapter! Hope the story is progressing well for all of you!**

**My plan is to include as many people from all over Fairy Tail, from multiple guilds and others that aren't mages into this story too! I'll say it now, he isn't just 'going to fall in love' with someone and proclaim them the mother of his child after he adopts Myou. **

**Hell, I might make Clarissa say that he needs to find a stable relationship with someone before she lets him adopt her; you never know what I'll do!**

**Or maybe he will never be allowed to adopt! Okay that will never happen, but I'm still deciding on how he gets around to being accepted into being allowed to adopt her.**

**I know I haven't given any detail about how Myou's appearance, that will come later.**


	3. I'd Do Anything

**Well this story is blowing up faster than I expected! I'll try to keep updating as fast as possible.**

**I'm going to say this again, no matter what it looks like in the story, there has not been a decided pairing for Natsu. I will say that the person WILL be from Fairy Tail, just maybe not in the guild. After I lay out a plot for a few characters I will start the poll for who he will be with in the end. Voting now in review will not give you the upper hand.**

**That being said, enjoy!**

**Chapter 3: I'd Do Anything**

* * *

_"What about a mother?" Lisanna asked suddenly. "You want to give her a home, but what about a mother? Wouldn't it be best for her to have a mother and a father than just one or the other?"_

_Natsu frowned up at her. "I don't have a wife or anything so it isn't like I can just make one appear for her. Besides, with all the girls we have here at the guild, it'll be like she has ten moms!" He said finally smiling._

* * *

Lisanna sighed and shook her head. "I don't even know why I bothered to ask. You almost never think anything through before you act. Don't you ever regret growing up without a mother?" The youngest Strauss couldn't count the amount of times that she personally wished she had known her own mother better before her parents had died.

"You have a way of taking all the pleasure right out from under me sometimes, you know that?" Natsu teased, somewhat sad. He didn't need to be reminded about how he hadn't grown up with a mother, let alone a father either. "I hear what you're saying Lis, but I can't just make a girl appear out of thin air. Besides, she's been there long enough. Anyone is better than no one." He lifted his hands up and looked at his palms before clenching his fists. "She doesn't have it like we did when we grew up. We had a place to go, we found Fairy Tail and in some cases Fairy Tail found us."

Lisanna scoffed at him. "Didn't have it like we did? I don't think I have to remind you that my parents died so that I found myself here. Erza was tortured for years before Rob sacrificed himself to save her and sent her here. You were abandoned twice before Master found you and brought you here. How in any way has she gone anything remotely close to what we have gone through." She knew her words were harsh, she knew how he took her words by the pain in his eyes. She hated saying these things, but everyone else was too shocked by his sudden announcement that she felt she had to step up.

Natsu dropped his head into his chest and stared at his hands on the table. "We all had somewhere to go, someone to accept us. Was it rough? I'm not going to say that I don't look back and wonder if there was anything I could have done to prevent it, but I don't regret it. I've made too many friends here, I've found family here that I could never wish to replace." Finally he looked up and let his hands relax. "She found out that she has some latent ability for magic and because of that every time she gets a chance for someone to adopt her and they find out about it, they run. I won't let her think that she should be ashamed of what she can do, of who she is."

"So just because she has magic, you feel you have to give her a home? What a saint." Natsu spun at the voice, anger stabbing through his spine. Every muscle in his body screamed to be released. "Just because you managed to fight someone from the future you think that you are the only one that can do anything else." He didn't want to hear anything from the Dragon Slayer in question.

Natsu felt a hand wrap around his arm to restrain him, but it didn't stop him from glaring over at Sting. "I don't want to hear it from you. I have had just about enough of you thinking that you own this place just because you are dating Lucy. I don't give a damn if she chose to be with you, but you have no say in what goes on here."

He watched as Lucy stood up between them, glaring over at Natsu. "That's enough. I won't have you bad-mouthing Sting. He isn't as bad as you say, he's lost people too. He deserves to be here just as much as we do. He has been helping out for the past few weeks, when we haven't seen you around. You want to talk about who has no say in what goes on here, look at yourself. You won't go out on missions with anyone anymore, you work alone. Sting took your place as my partner he-"

"He killed his father." Natsu snapped back at her. "But that… that I can forgive because everyone deserves a second chance. I don't care why he did it, no matter what lead up to him doing it. You want to chastise me about not going out on missions? You _LEFT _our team to be with him. Gray and Juvia are working things between them and Erza has her own issues to work out. You want to judge me, fine. Do whatever you want, but keep it between the two of you. I have a chance to make someone's life easier, make someone feel welcome for once."

Sting snorted a laugh. "Lucy left you for me. This Myou will probably leave-" He never got the chance to finish his sentence. Natsu's fist broke over Lucy's shoulder, the fire swirling around his fist singing the clothes she wore, and connected with the bridge of Sting's nose.

Natsu was visibly shaking by this point and he felt multiple pairs of hands grab ahold of him to pull him back from the downed Dragon Slayer. Mirajane stepped in front of him and tried to take his attention away by idly fixing his vest. "Ignore him; Myou would be lucky to have you in her life. Now, more importantly, why didn't you think to come to me after Lucy went against your plan, hmm?" He glowered over at him slightly, pouting.

Natsu, still seething with anger, clenched his hands at his sides and tried to force himself to calm down. Like it or not, Sting was a temporary member of Fairy Tail and he knew he couldn't just beat the guy to a pulp. No matter how mad he was, he still meant something to Lucy. He diverted his attention to the eldest Strauss in front of him. "I see how hard you work every day just to make sure this place runs smoothly, there was no way I was going to take you away from that." Finally, a smile broke over his lips.

Mirajane's pout deepened. "Just because I'm busy doesn't mean I couldn't help you out when you needed it."

"So the next time I decide that I want another kid I should come to you?" He asked teasingly. The blush that flooded Mirajane's cheeks was all the answer he needed. "Thanks Mira, but I know how crazy it sounds for me to even think about becoming a parent. I would have come to you if there was even a remote chance that I thought you would have helped me. I can't change that now; I already told Clarissa that I was by myself. All I have to wait for now is for her to decide on whether or not she trusts me enough with Myou."

Natsu removed the hands from around him and stepped away from those that were restraining him, casting one last glare at Sting before leaving the guild. What he didn't see behind him was the demonic look that Mirajane wore, the look she got when she had a plan in place.

* * *

Natsu could barely contain his excitement as he sat at the Guild. After an entire day of teasing and constant questions from everyone, Natsu only had to wait out the night before he planned on heading to Clover Town where he would finish his conversation with Clarissa and she would decide whether she would allow him to adopt Myou or not.

"Erza!" Natsu cried running up to the scarlet haired mage. "I challenge you to a fight!"

Erza looked up from her cheesecake, casting out a deathly glare at the Dragon Slayer. "Not now Natsu, I'm busy. Go play with Gray or something." She growled before taking another bite of her cake,

Natsu frowned and glared at the woman for a moment before deciding better of pushing her any further. She was already in a bad mood and he didn't want her to redirect it at him. He turned on his heel and charged across the Guild Hall towards the Ice mage. "Gray!" Just as Gray was turning to spit out an insult Natsu caught him in the jaw with a fiery punch. Gray cried out in surprise and flew back a few feet into a group of mages.

"You've done it now Salamander!" Gajeel shouted pushing Gray off of him. Gajeel grabbed the chair he had been sitting on and hurled it at the Dragon Slayer. Natsu countered by punching the chair out of the air, shattering it into splinters. Smiling, Natsu threw himself into the battle with the intention of taking his mind off the day that was to follow.

* * *

Somewhere in the middle of the fight Mirajane spotted a woman at the doors to the Guild looking nervous. She waved over to the woman friendly and gestured for her to come over to the counter next to where Erza sat eating her cake. "Hi, I'm Mirajane, what can I do for you today?" She asked sweetly, giving her best smile.

"Umm…. Sorry to intrude on you all and your…" The woman looked over at the fight going on and shook her head. "I don't even know what to call this. I'll just get straight to the point then, is Natsu around?"

Mirajane gestured over to the brawl. "If you give it a moment, they should be done relatively soon. Why don't you take a seat and I'll get you something to drink while you wait?" The barmaid offered heading to the other side of the bar. She came back with a glass of tea and set it down in front of the woman. "Is there something I can help you with while you wait?"

The woman took a sip of her drink and gave a shy smile. "Actually you might be able to help. You see when Natsu asked about adopting Myou the other day, he mentioned that he wasn't married. But, I got this letter today from someone claiming to be his wife." Clarissa brought out the small letter and set it on the table.

"Excuse me did you say Myou?" Mirajane asked, hearts growing in place of her eyes. "That means you must be Clarissa! It's so good to finally meet you! Natsu has told me so much about what you are doing for those children." She reached across the table and took up the letter, smiling before nodding and handing it back to Clarissa. "I can see why he didn't tell you about our recent marriage, we still haven't told everyone about it just yet and without having met you, I figured I could at least send you a letter explaining the situation."

Erza spat out her cake and spun on the take –over mage. "D-did you just… did you just say that you and…" Erza spun around in her seat and leapt to her feet. "NATSU!" She bellowed. The fighting stopped dead in its tracks, everyone that had been participating moving away from the Dragon Slayer rapidly.

Natsu himself, while still confused yet still afraid to question it, ran over to Erza. "Y-yes?"

Erza grabbed the front of his collar and lifted him into the air. "What is this I hear about you and Mirajane getting married!" She growled menacingly.

Natsu shook in the woman's hands, his arms coming up to defend himself. "I don't know what you're talking about, I swear!" He cast a look behind her and noticed Clarissa sitting there. All thoughts of self-protection left him and he raised an eyebrow at the woman. "Clarissa? What brings you here?"

In the blink of an eye, Mirajane was around the counter, stealing Natsu out of Erza's grasp. "Just play along." She whispered to the two. "Natsu, dear, she came to ask about our marriage and why you didn't think to tell her about it." She cast a glare at him, trying to make him understand what she was trying to do, that she was only trying to help him.

With Natsu still looking confused, Clarissa stepped up hesitantly and pulled out another letter from her pocket. "Actually, I wasn't too surprised to hear that a man like him was married. I was more surprised when I got another letter from another woman claiming to be his wife as well."

It was Mirajane's turn to look confused, her mouth opening and closing as if she didn't quite understand what the woman had said. Lisanna, also seemingly appearing out of nowhere, grabbed Natsu's free arm and pulled it to her chest. "Well it's not as confusing as it sounds. My sister here and I weren't going to make Natsu choose between us so we all decided to just stay together rather than have someone get hurt."

Clarissa looked between the three mages, processing the situation. By the looks on their faces, Mirajane and Lisanna had decided to take everything in stride, while Natsu only looked more confused. "I don't understand what… you two are suggesting that you are _both_ married to Natsu?" Both women nodded, but Natsu's dumbfounded look didn't all that convincing. "Prove it." She suggested.

Natsu looked back and forth between Mirajane and Lisanna, worried about whatever it was that they had planned. He trusted them, but he knew just how thorough Mirajane was when she got a plan stuck in her head. Her little sister was no less devious. Lisanna smiled and grabbed Natsu by the back of his neck and pulled him down into a kiss, one that he was too surprised to return. Mirajane in turn, after Lisanna let him go, pulled him into a kiss as well. Finally, Natsu had had enough of it and pushed away from the two. "What the hell!" He turned to Clarissa pleadingly. "Look, I don't know what these two are trying to do, but I swear I didn't have anything to do with it. I didn't lie to you yesterday, I'm not married; I'm not even in a relationship with them."

Lisanna grabbed Natsu by his hair and pulled him back to them. "We are trying to help you; you said that she wouldn't let anyone adopt without being a couple right? What better than being married?"

Clarissa broke between them, waving her hand to get their attention. "I'm just going to go ahead and go. Natsu, after you decide what the truth is… come see me and we can talk about all of this."

Natsu pushed away from Lisanna and tried to follow her out, pleading for her to listen to him, but she shut the door in his face, not quite slamming it but still shutting it soundly to block him. He stood staring at the door for a few minutes, not moving from that spot. Once again, everything felt awkwardly silent, almost as bad as when Lucy had told him off. Finally Natsu just opened the door and shut it silently behind him, leaving the guild to think about what had just happened.

Regret spread through both of the Strauss sisters as they saw just how thought out their plan had really been. Sure, if only one of them had sent the letter, it would have been a different story altogether. They might have even succeeded in fooling the orphanage's owner. In a flurry, Mirajane ran back behind the counter and grabbed her jacket before fleeing out the door muttering something about making it all better.

* * *

Natsu was content to walk around town and just let his nerves calm down. It didn't take as long as he had thought it would, a couple hours at most. He couldn't fault the two sisters for trying to help, their intentions were good. They had only meant to help him. 'Damnit…' He thought to himself. He had to go back and talk to them about this and let them know that he appreciated their help, but this was his fight.

Natsu pushed the doors of the Guild open to see that everything had returned to normal. He made a b line for Lisanna, touching her shoulder briefly. Lisanna jumped from her seat in surprise and spun around, her hand rushing up over her heart. "Natsu, what are you doing back here? I thought you were headed to Clover Town."

Natsu smiled and shook his head, removing his hand from her shoulder at the same time. "I wanted to thank you for trying to help me. But next time, work with me instead of trying to just fix it all for me." Lisanna frowned and dropped her head slightly. "Enough of that, where's Mira, I want to make sure that she isn't planning anything else. You know how she gets when…" He trailed off when she laughed awkwardly. "Where is she?" He asked tentatively.

Lisanna chewed on her lower lip as he fought for words. "Well… I can't be sure… not exactly… of where… but if I had to say, she went to pay Clarissa a visit to explain herself. She left shortly after you did, but since she didn't come back with you I can only assume that she went to make things right and explain what really happened." She reached back and scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. "I can't say I blame her though, I can see why she would want to fix it. We really might have messed up your chances at giving Myou a home. Can you forgive us for everything?"

Natsu sighed and pulled her into a hug. "I could forgive you all of anything. You should know that already. Next time, please come to me first before doing something like this." Lisanna hugged him back weakly and nodded against his shoulder. "Good. Now, I have to go stop Mirajane from making things worse." After squeezing her in a tight hug, Natsu let her go and headed back towards the doorway. He broke out into a sprint to the train station.

To his dismay, when he reached the train station, there was not to be a train headed towards Clover Town for several hours. Events raced through his mind, she had already gotten a couple of hours on him and if she was truly there, it could very well mean the end of his chances, or better yet she had the ability to sway Clarissa with her twisted words.

* * *

Natsu was still green in the face from his train ride by the time he reached the orphanage. He came to a halt outside of the main doorway and rested his hand on it, listening the best he could for any signs of yelling or confrontation inside. From where he stood he couldn't tell if there was a single sound even coming from inside. He inched the door open, afraid at what he might see. The first thing he saw was a mountain of silver-white hair sitting across from Clarissa, both of them chatting idly. Neither of them seemed to have noticed him, but for his benefit, neither of them were yelling or at each other's throats.

Taking a deep breath he slipped inside the room and quickly made his way over to the two sitting women. Neither of them looked over at him until he sat down next to Mirajane, who set a gentle hand on his leg, but it was Clarissa who spoke up first. "I've had plenty of time discussing things over with Mirajane here. What do you have to say about all of this?" Despite the calm demeanor, Natsu could tell that she wasn't happy about what had gone down.

Natsu cut straight to the point. "I meant what I said when I asked you to adopt Myou, I have no significant other. I will admit that before I asked you that I had planned on having a certain friend, neither Mirajane nor Lisanna, to pretend to be in a relationship with me to make it easier for you to let me adopt. That didn't go the way I thought it would so I came clean with you then just as I am now." He shook his head, realizing how stupid it was of him to even try it in the first place. It would have started Myou's new life off with a lie. "I didn't know about Mirajane or Lisanna's plan, but I don't blame them for trying to help." He looked over at Mirajane and gave her a small smile.

Clarissa sighed and shook her head. "I would be far angrier at you if I haven't had a talk with Mirajane here for the past few hours. She told me pretty much the same story you did. She also informed me of a few other things that you failed to let me know about your past. I won't ask why you didn't feel you couldn't tell me, we haven't known one another for long enough for that I guess."

"It isn't that I don't trust you, it's more that I just don't feel comfortable telling many people about it. I don't want them to pity me. I would rather them look at me as who I have become and not about what happened in my past." Natsu admitted. "But looking back, if I hadn't had the group of people around me that I do now… I wouldn't have been able to achieve half of what I did. That is why I want to give Myou a home."

Clarissa let out a small laugh. "I would be lying if I said I didn't believe you. Truth be told, I can't get rid of Myou as it is. Not just because people are turning her down because she has some latent ability for magic, but after she found out yesterday that you wanted to adopt her, she adamantly refuses to even meet with possible parents. I don't know how she heard it, but she has it stuck in her head that you already adopted her."

The salmon haired Dragon Slayer couldn't help but smile. Just the thought of Myou being excited about him as a potential father was more than enough for him. "Whatever I have to do, just tell me. I know I can support her, I can give her the home that she deserves. I may not be married, or in a relationship, but that doesn't mean she won't have a mother figure to look up to."

Clarissa sat there and looked back and forth between the two mages that sat across from her. "I don't see why you two aren't together, it's obvious you two get along together."

Natsu cocked his head to the side and looked at Mirajane out of the corner of his eye. "I don't see what you mean, I get along with everyone." He knew exactly what she was saying, but he didn't want to lead Mirajane down that path. She had enough to worry about rather than trying to act as a mother for a child that wasn't hers. He now regretted that he would have stuck Lucy in that position as well without her prior consent.

"Oh but with what she did for you and everything… I don't know who would go that far without having an ulterior motive." Clarissa teased.

It was Mirajane's turn to blush. "It wasn't like that, I wasn't the only one that tried to help him, and I was just the first one that jumped the gun. Any of us would have helped him had he asked." She said sweetly, removing her hand from Natsu's leg at the same time. "Besides, I'm too busy to pursue a relationship."

Clarissa laughed lightly and waved a hand at the two. "I'm just teasing you; don't get so bent out of shape about it. Anyways, come back in the morning and we'll make it official."

Natsu stood up quickly, leaning over the table. "Don't tease me, do you really mean it?" Clarissa giggled and nodded her head. Natsu leapt over the table and pulled the woman into a tight hug, swinging her around in a circle. "You have no idea what this means to me. I swear I won't let you down." He was nearly in tears by the time he let her down and started to head out the door dragging Mirajane along with him. "I'll see you tomorrow, but don't tell her about it until I come around." Clarissa nodded and waved them off.

Mirajane wore a large smile and stepped lively next to Natsu as they made their way down to the train station together. "So, tell me what you guys are planning on doing first." She asked cheerfully.

"That's easy. I have to introduce her to everyone. This is going to be her family, I want her to love everyone and know that she can rely on all of us." Natsu said, unable to break the smile from his face.

"I have another question… don't get mad at me when I ask it, but why aren't you in a relationship with anyone? I know for the longest time that a lot of us thought you would end up with Lucy, but with her already together with Sting I can see that that ship has sailed. What about Lisanna? You had something with her back before she disappeared on us, but with her back you haven't acted on it." Mirajane asked somewhat awkwardly.

Natsu only started to laugh. "I haven't thought about it, besides what does it matter? I can ask you the same thing, I've seen the looks that Laxus gives you and I know you have seen them too." He left the obvious question unasked.

Mirajane glared over at Natsu and punched him in the shoulder, losing her sweet demeanor instantaneously. "Don't change the subject Natsu, you know I've been too busy to even try to pursue a relationship. Besides, Laxus doesn't want anything except a fling." She sighed at Natsu's confused look. "It means he doesn't want a relationship, he wants a one night stand."

Natsu continued to give her a confused look. "Who would want to be in a one day relationship, doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose?" It was only then that Mirajane realized that Natsu might not realize exactly what a one night stand is, let alone what the reason behind one would be.

"It isn't going to happen, that's all you should be worried about Natsu." Mirajane mumbled. She had some things that she needed to talk about with a few of the girls back at the Guild, and maybe a few of the guys to get them to explain to Natsu about a certain subject. "Come on, we should get back to Magnolia so you can get some rest. I'm sure Myou would appreciate you coming to pick her up early in the morning."

* * *

**So, do you like where this is going? Before you ask, no Natsu isn't ignorant, he just lets people think he is.**

**Yes, I made Sting to look like a bastard, why? Because I can't stand him. Why was Lucy so mean? Because she had to stand up for her boyfriend, no other reason.**


	4. A New Life

**Sorry for the delay, I had to rewrite this on my phone due to my computer crapping out. Sorry! I'm working on fixing it as I post this (rewrote the story and posted it before starting on it). **

**Okay, a lot of people are asking about the pairing here so I'll say it one more time, I plan on putting out 5-6 possible pairings for Natsu. Since everyone wants to know so much about them I'll just let you know now. Mirajane, Lisanna, Millianna, Yukino, Chelia, and Minerva (Just run with it for now you'll understand why later). The voting hasn't started yet so even if you tell me what you prefer I can't do anything about it yet. I want to introduce each character to the story first and show how they interact with Myou before you all start claiming a certain one to be your favorite.**

**No, Lucy is not a viable pairing, no matter how many people like her. She is and will be only a friend to Natsu. Partially because of what she has put Natsu through recently with Sting and the adoption, but also because neither of them want to take a step away from their friendship, however rocky it would seem at the moment, to pursue a deeper relationship just in case it didn't work out between them. That is the last I will say on the matter. So no, this will not be the cliché 'Lucy regrets her actions and tries to make up with Natsu and ends up with him' type of ending.**

**Anyways, on with the chapter!**

**Chapter 4: A New Life**

* * *

_"It isn't going to happen, that's all you should be worried about Natsu." Mirajane mumbled. She had some things that she needed to talk about with a few of the girls back at the Guild, and maybe a few of the guys to get them to explain to Natsu about a certain subject. "Come on, we should get back to Magnolia so you can get some rest. I'm sure Myou would appreciate you coming to pick her up early in the morning."_

After the grueling train ride, Mirajane had bid Natsu goodnight and had made him promise to bring his little girl over as soon as possible. In return, Natsu had made her promise to keep what had transpired that night a secret between the two of them. He wanted to surprise everyone by actually showing up with Myou. He watched her turn and walk happily back down the street towards the Strauss' family house, a noticeable pep in her step.

Darkness swallowed him, lamplights clicking on to light his way back towards the edge of town. He stopped suddenly, frozen in place just inside the walls as it dawned on him. It wouldn't matter how ready he thought he was, or how good his intentions were right at that moment. Not only was his shack of a house small, but it was in the middle of the forest. It was a complete mess and in no way was it suited for a small child.

As fast as he could process the information, Natsu set up a plan for the following day. He would clean the second he got home, and not the usual 'push everything into a corner' tactic that he usually used when too much crap got in the way. No, he needed to devote his time to a thorough deep cleaning like the ones that Lucy used to help him out with. Just thinking about the Celestial Mage tore at his heart. He truly missed her, no matter what he said. She was still one of his best friends and it hurt to not be able to see her the way he had in previous weeks, but he knew that one day this would have happened. They both needed to find that person that they could devote themselves to, and at the moment Lucy had Sting and Natsu had found Myou.

He shook the thought out of his head and focused on the matter at hand. In the morning he would find one of the girls to help him get whatever Myou might need. He knew the basics of course; clothes, food, a roof over their heads, a bed, and… well… what else was there? This was why he knew he needed some help setting everything up for her. He wanted everything to be perfect for her. She wouldn't want for anything if he had his way.

He slapped his cheeks a couple of times to wake himself up from his delusions and sprinted towards his house while running the women that he could ask to help him with making a list of what he would need. He could ask Mirajane, she knew a lot about how to run the Guild as it was, she might know what it took to raise someone, in fact she had raised both Elfman and Lisanna already too even though she had done it at a young age. Or there was Lisanna herself, who had helped him with Happy from the time that he had hatched. But that was different; Happy could fend for himself and had done so plenty of times, as was evident now that he was spending most of his time with Carla and Wendy.

He finally made it to his house and kicked open the door, hard enough that he heard cans and bottles scatter from where they lay when the wind rustled against them. He sighed and pushed his sleeves up his forearms and shook his head. He threw himself into his work, grabbing trash bags and filling them with everything in sight. Maybe Erza would be… No that would be worse than asking Happy to help him. There was no way she knew anything about children, let alone have enough time to help him with Jellal always on her mind.

Natsu slapped his forehead and groaned. "I'm an idiot…" He whispered to himself. Here he was wondering who he could ask for help when there was already someone that was raising a child of her own in the first place. He would head straight to Bisca and Azlack's home in the morning and hope she wouldn't freak out at him and yell with him being so unprepared. He shook his head and threw himself back into action, running around the house and picking up what was left of the stuff on the floor, reminding himself to take the bags into town in the morning on his way in.

He grabbed a broom and quickly went to work without another thought to what he would do in the morning.

* * *

With his bags thrown over his shoulder, Natsu sprinted back into town just as the sun was starting to rise. After dropping the bags off for recycling he ran off to the Guild, even more ecstatic than the day prior. He kicked open the doors only to have them rebound and slam shut in his face after hitting the wall. He groaned and rubbed his face, gently opening this time so he wouldn't cause any more damage. After a quick scan, he didn't see either Bisca or Azlack, nor their daughter anywhere in sight but there were a couple of others hanging around in the early hours of the morning.

"Mira!" He called out, heading over to the bar. He called out again when there wasn't an answer.

Lisanna poked her head out from the kitchen. "Mira-nee isn't here yet, something about grocery shopping for the week."

Natsu groaned and scrunched his face in irritation for a moment. "You wouldn't happen to know where Bisca and Azlack live do you?" He asked dropping into a seat at the bar.

"Mmm, I think so. Mind if I ask why?" Lisanna inquired leaning on the counter in front of him.

Natsu waved off her question. "Just some questions about Asuka and some of her necessities for just in case Clarissa gives me the okay." He lied, hoping it was convincing enough that she wouldn't press further. He knew he was terrible at lying and just wanted to get away quickly before she caught on too fast.

Lisanna wasn't buying it though and narrowed her eyes at him. "What aren't you telling me?" She questioned. Natsu tried to laugh it off and scratch the back of his head, but she persisted. "I'm serious here Natsu, why do you need to know?"

Natsu sighed and looked down at the counter in front of him. "You kind of hit a nerve the other day when you asked about Myou not having a mother if I adopt her. Not so much that she won't have a mother, but more that I don't know everything that it takes to raise her. Don't get me wrong, I know I can do it, but when it comes to what she needs, I can't say I know everything. If it was a boy that would be another story, I remember what I needed, but she isn't a boy." He sighed again, but looked up this time. "I figured with Bisca having a daughter of her own, she would know most of what it took to raise Asuka."

Lisanna looked a little taken aback. "What about me? I help with Asuka all the time, and you and I raised Happy! If we got through that, I'm sure we could get through raising Myou!"

Natsu laughed. "I don't think raising Happy counts as actually raising anyone. He's more cat than kid no matter how we look at it. All he wants is fish all the time." By the look of pain on Lisanna's face he knew he had probably gone too far. "Don't get me wrong." He said trying to alleviate the situation. "I don't regret having you help with Happy at all. I'm just worried is all. I just want to do what is best for Myou no matter what happens with me."

"Tell you what, I'll take you over to Bisca's if you let me help you too." Lisanna offered sweetly clasping her hands together in front of her. "And if not, then you can hunt them down yourself."

Natsu frowned at the ultimatum, but relented. "Fine. Not like I would have turned down your help anyways, you are like a best friend to me!" Lisanna ignored the best friend comment and smiled happily, skipping around the counter and taking Natsu's hand to drag him with her. Natsu couldn't hide the small blush that inched up his cheeks and turned his head away hoping she didn't notice.

Lisanna wasn't deterred by the looks they got through town and merely led her companion to a small quant house at the end of a street and knocked on the door. Azlack opened the door and she quickly explained the situation for Natsu. After explaining everything, Bisca and Azlack were more than happy to give the Dragon Slayer a list of everything that they felt he would need for Myou should he succeed in adopting her. They suspected more than he was letting on, but were just happy that he was trying to prepare for the possibility of being a father.

Natsu had to pull Lisanna out of the house with him in order to get her out of their friends' home. She had wanted to sit and talk about what it took mentally and physically to raise Asuka, but Natsu didn't feel like having his ability brought into question, thus the quick departure. Once back into the shopping district of town Natsu let Lisanna lead the expedition with the short list of supplies. They quickly ran through a furniture store and picked out a small bed with a dresser and nightstand, all a light shade of pink much to Natsu's distaste. He didn't push the issue though, figuring Lisanna would know more about what girls liked since she was in fact one herself.

Even though Lisanna had suggested they pick out clothes, Natsu had downright refused to help here there. Not only did the smell inside nauseate him, but they didn't know what size to get the girl. Not only did Natsu not know her size, but he couldn't recall quite how old she had been. "Besides, you can help her pick clothes out when she gets here." He said to defend his argument.

Lisanna caught onto the slip up and spun Natsu around to push his back into the wall of a nearby building they were passing. "When she gets here? There's something you're not telling me here." She stated poking Natsu's chest with a finger. "What are you hiding?"

Natsu swatted her finger away and tried to step to the side to go around her but she followed, keeping her body in his way to prevent him from going any further. "Can you just trust me here? Everything will work out sooner or later and you'll understand."

"You got permission didn't you? Is that why Mira-nee was so happy last night?" Lisanna asked, finally putting things together. "That would explain why you were so desperate to get all of this for her today instead of waiting until you knew… because you already knew!"

"Keep your voice down!" Natsu whispered urgently. "Yes, alright? I'm going back to Clover Town after we finish up here to finalize everything."

"I'm coming with you." Lisanna stated.

Natsu sighed and hunched forward slightly. "You won't let me go by myself will you? And if I make you stay you'll tell everyone?" He guessed. Lisanna nodded, smiling slyly knowing she had him in her grasp. "Fine you can come with, but don't make a scene please!" He pleaded.

Lisanna pat him on the shoulder. "I'll be a perfect little girl for you, don't worry about me. Should we head out now? The rest can probably wait until we get back with your beautiful little girl!" She couldn't hold herself back from freaking out a little, clapping her hands and bouncing up and down where she stood. "I knew when I woke up today that it would be a good day, thank you for not disappointing Natsu."

* * *

Standing outside the orphanage Natsu couldn't help but feel nervous. His hands had even started to shake slightly and he began to second guess himself. Lisanna noticed this and gently touched his arm, offering him a small smile instead of words knowing that actions spoke louder than words for him. She earned herself one of his signature grins. "Shall we?" He asked now that his resolve was renewed.

No sooner had he opened the door than was he bombarded by a flying body, effectively knocking him back out the door to land on his back. He could only groan from where he lay, reaching his head up to rub the back of his head with one hand, the other moving to the back of the body that had tackled him so he could sit up without dumping whoever it was that had hit him on the ground. "What's the big idea, huh?" He mumbled.

"Get me away from those little demons!" The woman cried out, shrinking against Natsu's chest. "Those aren't children, they're demons!"

Natsu groaned and looked down finally taking notice of who it was that had hit him. "So why did you tackle me Millianna?" He asked.

"I wasn't trying to." She countered. "You just got in the way when I was trying to run. Oh! They listen to you, get them to stop pulling on my hair!"

Natsu laughed and pushed her off of him and stood up. "They're just curious, don't get so worked up about it. I'm sure they didn't mean any harm by it." Once again he pushed his way into the orphanage, prepared to be attacked yet again just in case. He didn't even have to try and search out the little girl that occupied the entirety of his mind. "I'm back everyone!" He called out, most of the children smiling and waving at him. Myou however, dropped her fork onto her plate and sprinted over at him, throwing herself into the air so he could catch her and pull her into a hug, something that she had taken a liking to after he had decided to come by more often.

Lisanna was stunned by the young child, drawn into the scene that was playing out in front of her. The little girl had pitch black hair that dropped to the small of her back, her eyes stunningly golden in contrast. The girl couldn't have been older than eight; nine at most from where she stood watching the two interact.

"Natsu! It's about time you got here, the cat lady wouldn't let us play with her tail and kept running away!" Myou cried out, waving her hands dramatically.

Natsu chuckled. "Go easy on her; she isn't used to how energetic you kids are yet. She'll come around more if you don't scare her away."

"Who's the lady that you brought with you today?" Myou asked peaking over Natsu's shoulder at Lisanna shyly. "Is she your girlfriend?"

Natsu sat Myou on her feet and looked down at her, frowning and furrowing his brow, but Lisanna beat him to the punch. She stepped up to his side and wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling herself against him and leaning closer to him as if to kiss his cheek. "That's right Myou, I'm-"

Natsu caught her face with the palm of his hand and pushed her back with a sigh. "She's a friend Myou, a friend." He untangled himself from Lisanna and squatted down in front of the little girl. "I have something more important to talk to you about anyways. Did Clarissa have a chance to talk to you today?" Myou shook her head. "Well, to be blunt, I want to take you home with me today. How does that sound?"

Myou stood there silently, wrapping her arms around Natsu's neck to pull him closer. Natsu smiled and returned the hug, smelling the silent tears that were running down her cheeks. "You better not be teasing me." She whispered.

"I'm serious." Natsu said standing up, still holding her in his arms. "We just have to fill a few things out with Clarissa then I'll take you home with me." Myou started to laugh and only squeezed tighter onto the Dragon Slayer, who could only smile brighter. He gestured over to Lisanna, motioning for her to come over to him. "Hey, I want you to meet one of my friends from Fairy Tail, you remember me telling you about Lisanna?" He asked.

"You told her about me?" Lisanna asked, surprised that he had talked about her. Natsu shrugged. "Well anyways, it's nice to meet you Myou. Let me tell you, I don't think you could ask for someone better to take care of you. He's saved my life more times than I can remember; I can only imagine what he'd be willing to do for you." She squealed with joy the more that she looked at the little girl. "I just can't get over how cute you are! Everyone at the Guild is just going to LOVE you!"

Natsu went to set Myou down, but she only clung onto him more and refused to let him go. "I'll only be a moment, Myou. I just need to find Clarissa so we can get this done, I want to get you back to meet the rest of the Guild." Finally Myou relented, but watched him head off anyways.

"Don't worry so much." Lisanna wandered over to take a seat at the table with a few of the other kids, her heart going out to them since she knew what it was like to be without parents. "He'll be back in a moment, it just gives us time to talk. So tell me something about yourself, Natsu says you have some kind of magic."

"Yeah…" Myou said, unsure of whether or not she should be giving this information to the woman, but decided it would be alright seeing as she was Natsu's friend. "He says it's nothing to be ashamed of and I've seen his magic, but I don't have anything like he does. I can't even control it yet, things just happen on their own." She walked over and sat at the table across from Lisanna and started to fiddle with her hands, poking her fingers together. "He says that Fairy Tail is full of mages, is that true?"

"Of course it is. All of us are mages so you'll fit right in! We have been so excited to meet you, but he wouldn't tell us anything about you." Lisanna said with a bright smile. "Even Millianna is a mage!"

Millianna stopped at the head of the table and put her hands on her hips, casting a smile down at the two at the table. "That's right, there are quite a few of us around."

Natsu and Clarissa appeared, seemingly out of thin air, next to the table with a stack of papers in their hands. Natsu set the papers down and picked Myou up to sit down where she had been only to set her down on his lap. "Sorry to interrupt, but we should get this over with as fast as possible."

"Who is going to be my mom?" Myou asked suddenly. "Why didn't she come with you?"

Natsu flinched and dropped his pen to the table. "Sorry Myou, but you only get me for now." He whispered. "But one day you'll have a mom, I just don't know when. One girl is more than enough for me to handle right now." He teased, ruffling her hair slightly.

"Oh… But you hang out with other girls all the time, aren't you close to any of them?" Myou asked, not convinced that he didn't have his eyes on anyone.

"Hey, girls can be friends too ya know. Not everything has to be romantic, besides you don't have to worry about it." Natsu said picking the pen back up, signing where Clarissa informed him he had to.

"What do you like for in a partner?" Myou asked. Natsu groaned seeing that she wasn't going to give up so easy.

"How about this, if I let you help me will you let it go for now?" Myou nodded and smiled. "Besides, it isn't that easy to just say what I like. You have to like them too, and they have to get along with you better than they do me."

"What about cat lady?"

Natsu coughed and looked up apologetically at Millianna. "What about Millianna? She's a friend."

"But you said that I had to like her and we had to get along. She already fits that, plus she's cute and soft." Myou said innocently.

"Sorry Millianna, I swear I don't know why she is pressing on this so much right now." Natsu apologized setting the pen down for a final time.

"It's alright, she's just a kid I understand." Millianna answered, blushing and finding that she couldn't make herself meet the Dragon Slayer's eyes. She had to admit that she had thought he was cute before, but she herself hadn't thought of pursuing a relationship other than the passing fancy.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not sitting right here." Myou mumbled.

Natsu pushed back from the table and stood up. He knew he had to find a place to stop this before things got too awkward. "How about we get out of here, hmm? I'd like to introduce you to the Guild and get you some new clothes before we get home."

Lucky for them, Myou lost all thoughts of Millianna at the sound of going home. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" She grabbed Natsu's hand and drug him towards the door, only turning just before they left. "Cat lady!" Millianna looked over. "You should come by if you know where Fairy Tail is! I'm sure Daddy wouldn't mind seeing you again!" While Natsu was still reeling from having the young girl call him 'Daddy' she pulled him out the door so he couldn't discourage Millianna.

Lisanna followed the two out, knowing that she would have to worm her way into Myou's heart before the young girl would suggest her as a possibility of dating Natsu. For now she contented herself with watching as Natsu picked Myou up and tossed her in the air while the three of them made their way towards the train station. "I have to admit I was wrong the other day about your plan." She told Natsu. "I didn't know whether or not it would be smart for you to take Myou in, but just seeing the two of you together… Even without a partner, I think you could do it. I can see that she needs you and you never know, she might be exactly what you need too."

* * *

**Next chapter we introduce Myou to the Guild! How will everyone react? Will she love everyone, or will there be someone that she particularly doesn't take a liking to? Come back next time to see for yourselves!**


	5. Friends For Life

**New chapter up! Enjoy!**

**Chapter 5: Friends For Life**

* * *

_Lisanna followed the two out, knowing that she would have to worm her way into Myou's heart before the young girl would suggest her as a possibility of dating Natsu. For now she contented herself with watching as Natsu picked Myou up and tossed her in the air while the three of them made their way towards the train station. "I have to admit I was wrong the other day about your plan." She told Natsu. "I didn't know whether or not it would be smart for you to take Myou in, but just seeing the two of you together… Even without a partner, I think you could do it. I can see that she needs you and you never know, she might be exactly what you need too."_

Natsu groaned the moment the train lurched into movement, crumbling against the window. "What's wrong?" Myou asked, suddenly anxious. "Are you going to be okay?" Natsu merely tightened the arm that was wrapped around her and nodded, unable to voice his assurance the he would be fine when the train would finally come to a stop.

Luckily for him, Lisanna was quick on the pick-up and answered for him. "He has trouble with transportation. As far back as I can remember he has had troubles." She made a move to take Myou from him, but Natsu shook his head. She didn't push the issue knowing that he deserved a little time with his daughter. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're lucky he adopted you rather than actually being his kid, I'd hate for him to pass his motion sickness on."

Myou nodded in understanding and burrowed closer to her father. "I wish there was some way I could help…" She mumbled, half to herself while also hoping that Lisanna knew a way for her to assist the Dragon Slayer.

"Trust me, if I knew a way to prevent this I would. The only thing that has ever worked was Wendy's Sky Dragon Slayer magic." Lisanna admitted sullenly. "That stopped working after a while too, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. He'll be back to his usual self as soon as we get off the train."

"Why don't we just walk then?" Myou asked looking out the window to watch as the trees sped past them. "Or is Magnolia too far away to walk?

Lisanna laughed lightly, a smile crossing her lips. She could hear the concern in Myou's voice even if she couldn't see it. "You wouldn't want to do that. It's at least a week's walk. Much better to take the train, we should be there in just a few short hours. Don't worry so much about him, he does this a lot." The more she watched the young child, the more she could see that Natsu and Myou looked like they were meant for one another. There wasn't much that she could pinpoint that made it appear that way, it was more of an instinct, a gut feeling about the two. Simply the way he held her suggested that the two had known one another for years rather than the couple of weeks that they had really known one another.

A comfortable silence fell on the three, more so now that Natsu had fallen asleep and Myou was watching out the window in rapt fascination of the landscape that rushed passed them. The time passed by silently with little conversation until finally they came to a stop at Magnolia's train station. Myou jumped out of Natsu's arms, waking him up instantly as he jumped out of his seat. "What happened, why did we stop?" he asked somewhat confused.

Myou hopped back and forth from one foot to the other and pointed out the window. "We're here! We're here! Come on, stop wasting time!" Natsu sighed in relief and gestured for her to follow Lisanna off the train while he followed behind. "Come on Daddy, hurry up!" Myou called back to him breaking into a run from the sheer excitement of being in a new town.

Natsu broke into a run after her. "Hey, you don't even know where you're going." He said with a laugh. In a burst of speed he bent down and picked her up by her legs and sat her down on his shoulder, the girl giggling in excitement. Lisanna joined in, laughing with them as they all jogged through the bustling streets towards Fairy Tail. "Remember what I told you about Gray?" Natsu asked slowing to a walk when he could finally see the building looming in the distance.

Myou nodded from atop his shoulder, her right arm wrapped around Natsu's head to hold herself upright. "If he starts to take his clothes off to hit him really hard, call him a pedo… pedofeel… pedophile! And tell Erza!" She exclaimed triumphantly, thrusting her free arm in the air, her hand balled up in a fist.

"That's right!" Natsu cheered. Lisanna giggled and shook her head. She didn't know why she had ever thought it wouldn't be a good idea for Natsu to have a child of his own; they just seemed to click together so well. Natsu stopped just before the Guild doors and set Myou down, squatting down to be on level with her as he forced himself to be serious. "Alright, now this is what I want you to do."

Lisanna smiled and slipped past the two into the Guild, letting the two have their moment alone.

* * *

After explaining his plan to Myou, Natsu snuck into the Guild through the back door, trying not to look suspicious as he took a seat by himself in one of the tables at the corner of the Guild where he dropped his head onto his arms and closed his eyes, pretending to go to sleep. He heard the steady steps of the resident barmaid coming up to him and he tensed, knowing that if she caught on his plan would already be over. "I thought you were going to go get Myou today, what gives?" Mirajane asked.

Natsu could feel the worry in her voice, but he smiled and shook his head. "Problems with the paperwork so I have to go back in a few days." He lied.

Once again, luck seemed to be on his side. "Well let us know if there is anything you need us to do. I still haven't been able to meet the lucky girl so make sure you bring her over first thing when everything works out." Natsu nodded, silently thanking the gods that had decided to bless him with such luck.

Right on cue, the front door to the guild smashed open and Myou stormed in, turning more than one head in surprise that such a small girl could create such a racket. Natsu had to turn away from the scene to hide his smile, but he continued to listen for any complications in case he had to intervene. "Where is he!" Myou demanded rushing forward, her mouth twisted in anger and her eyes narrowed. She glared around the room until Mirajane rushed towards the girl.

"Are you lost?" Mirajane asked sweetly.

"Where is the old man?" Myou demanded.

"Old man? Who are you talking about?"

Myou sighed and gestured with her hand level with her shoulder. "Old guy about this height, bald, one of the Ten Wizard Saints. Said to be the Master of this Guild."

Mirajane's back straightened and she smiled. "Oh Master Makarov, what do you need him for?"

"I'm here to join! What else would I be here for?" Myou asked as if the question should have answered itself.

An uproarious laughter rippled from behind Mirajane and she stepped out of the way as Master Makarov walked up to the young girl. "I like your determination, young lady. I am Makarov. Now, why should I let you join Fairy Tail? Aren't you a little young?"

Myou almost burst out laughing, but managed to hold most of it back, merely smiling at Fairy Tail's Master. "If I'm too young, you're too old." She said flatly, causing Makarov's eyes to bulge out. "Besides, I'm going to be the strongest mage there ever was! You should be lucky to have me!"

"That's a pretty bold statement, girlie." Gajeel said off to the side, sitting at a table with the rest of Team Shadow Gear. "What proof do you have to back up that claim?"

"Well for starters my Daddy is the strongest mage out there! He's probably kicked your butt plenty of times!" Myou said sticking her tongue out at the Iron Dragon Slayer.

Makarov laughed once again, highly amused with the energetic girl. "Do we know you're father dear? That would help support your claim."

"Of course you do, he's a part of Fairy Tail!"

Without missing a beat, all eyes turned to Gildarts, who spit out his beer and coughed. "Hey! She's not mine!" He cried out in his own defense. "I swear I don't have any other kids! Cana's my one and only!"

It was Myou's turn to laugh. "He's not my Daddy." Everyone turned back to the girl and she pointed off to the side, her finger pointing out Natsu. "He is."

Silence hung in the air. No one knew what to say or even what to do. They didn't even think Natsu even knew what sex was, let alone that he had gotten any. Whispers broke out as everyone questioned who he could have gotten together with. A couple of people pointed out that she would have only been a year or so old when they got stuck on Tenroujima and it would explain why none of them had known about it.

"NATSU!" Erza screamed, shoving her chair back hard enough to send it tumbling. Myou flinched back from her and took a few unsure steps towards her adoptive father.

He sat up and turned to her, picked her up and set her in his lap like it was no big deal. "Everyone, I want you to meet Myou, my daughter."

At the announcement of her name, Mirajane squealed in excitement. She rushed over and snatched the girl from his arms to pull her into a hug. "I can't believe it; I finally get to meet you!" Myou giggled and hugged Mirajane back.

"You must be auntie Mirajane, Daddy told me a lot about you." Myou said giggling when she was finally put down so Mirajane could get a good look at her.

When Erza continued to stand there, even more confused than she had previously been, Natsu started to laugh. "I adopted Myou today so get used to seeing her around." He gestured over to the girl so he could pick her up and sit her down on the table that he was sitting by.

Master Makarov walked up to the two and smiled happily. "You had us going there for a minute Myou, you are quite the actor. It's a pleasure to meet you; you are welcome here anytime you choose. If your 'dad' here isn't giving you enough attention you come see me and we'll have some fun, but no more of this 'old man' business. I'm your grandfather. I deserve at least a little respect." Without warning Myou jumped off the table and pulled the short man into a tight embrace that he returned.

Mirajane sat down across the Natsu and smiled over at him. "I'm happy for you Natsu." Her expression turned serious and her voice lost it's happy tone. "But if you better treat her right, because if you don't… so help me…."

Natsu waved her threat off. "Believe me when I say you don't have to worry about that. Have I ever willingly hurt someone I care about?"

Mirajane sat there, unable to retort against his claim since she knew it was true, but it didn't stop her from giving him one last glare. "I'll get you two something to eat, make yourselves comfortable." Myou smiled and took her place back on the table next to Natsu, swinging her legs back and forth.

One by one, everyone came over to introduce themselves to the young girl and to congratulate Natsu on his successful adoption. Gajeel was one of the last to come over. "Just so we're clear, Natsu couldn't beat me if he tried. He beat me in the past, but that's in the past. It will never happen again."

Myou looked back and forth between the two before laughing at Gajeel. "You're silly, uncle Gajeel. Daddy told me you're all bark and no bite, but I don't see you barking, you're funny." Gajeel snorted a laugh, raising his eyebrow towards Natsu. "Is it true you're a Dragon Slayer too?" He nodded to her. "Then I'll grow to be strong enough to beat you up too!" She called out determinedly. Gajeel couldn't do anything but laugh and walk away, lest he take her challenge seriously.

The only ones that didn't come over to introduce themselves were Lucy and Sting, the former more embarrassed than anything. She still felt bad about how she had reacted before, for how cold she was to her former partner. Myou took notice that the two hadn't come over and decided on going over to introduce herself, but Natsu didn't follow as he felt he would just make the situation worse than it already was. However, he did keep an eye on her just to be sure Sting wouldn't try anything.

"You must be Lucy." Myou said happily stopping next to the blonde. She swayed back and forth, happy that she was meeting all of these new people. It excited her that there were so many mages around, all of which were more than happy to accept her among them. She bowed slightly, smiling. "It is good to finally meet you."

"H-how did you know that?" Surprise laced Lucy's words, more so at how polite the younger girl was towards a stranger.

"Daddy told me about you. He told me a lot about everyone here in fact."

"Really? What did he have to say about me?" Lucy asked smiling sweetly.

"He told me a lot about your adventures together and how you used to be partners. He even went as far as to say you used to be best friends." Myou's smile drooped. "What happened? When I asked him what happened between you two he wouldn't tell me."

Lucy nervously laughed it off. "I wouldn't worry about it; we're still friends… mostly… Anyways, this is Sting. He's new here. He's a Dragon Slayer like Natsu and Gajeel."

Myou cast a look over at Sting and her eyes narrowed at him. "You're new? How new?" She recognized him from what she was allowed to watch of the Grand Magic Games on the lacrima television Clarissa had borrowed. Something about him just rubbed her the wrong way.

Sting smiled down at the young girl. "A couple of weeks, but I'm only a temporary member. I'm with Sabertooth usually. I'm just here to help out my girlfriend." He said wrapping an arm around Lucy.

Myou glared at Sting. "No wonder Daddy isn't friends with you anymore Lucy. It's his fault." She accused the Dragon Slayer. "Besides, if you have your own guild, why are you here?"

Lucy gaped at Myou. "That isn't nice! Take that back! Sting isn't the problem between Natsu and I."

"Then what happened?" Myou questioned yet again.

"That isn't the problem right now. Apologize to Sting right now." Lucy demanded, her own glare coming down on the girl.

"Make me."

The statement coming from anyone else would have resulted in a fight normally, but coming from a small child only infuriated Lucy even more. "Look here Myou, it isn't nice to insult someone that you don't know anything about. Everyone has their own reasons for why they do things. Apologize to Sting and we can leave it at that."

Myou stood her ground, folding her arms across her chest. "You should be the one apologizing, not me." Sting growled, irritated at the nerve of this child. He cast a glare at her, but was caught off guard when her golden eyes brightened. Myou's hair flared up around her as a silent shockwave shot out around her. Sting found himself hovering slightly in the air as well as a few other items around him.

Natsu stepped up behind Myou, finally having heard enough, and put a hand on her shoulder gently. "It's alright Myou." Sting dropped back down into his seat and Myou's hair fell back down around her shoulders. She looked up at him questioningly and Natsu gave her a small wink. "The past is the past and we will leave it where it belongs."

"But he-" Myou started, pointing over at Sting. Natsu frowned down at her and she dropped her gaze. "I understand… but I won't apologize!" She said defiantly.

Natsu laughed, picked her up and threw her over his shoulder to take her with him back to the table that Mirajane had brought food over to. "I wasn't asking you to." He set her down at the table and slid a plate in front of her. "I hope you like Mira's food; she's the best cook here. Well, her and Lisanna that is, both of them are pretty spectacular." Feeling a glare at the back of his head, Natsu turned to see Sting seething in anger while Lucy looked torn between the two, not sure who she should support in that situation. Natsu gave her a smile and bowed his head a little then turned his attention back to his own food.

The interaction hadn't gone unnoticed by the rest of the Guild and while they had heard from Myou's own lips that she was a mage, they hadn't expected a spectacle of that magnitude to play out.

"You're Erza Scarlett right?" Myou asked, causing Natsu to look up and see that Erza had sat with them, a plate of cheesecake sitting in front of her. Erza nodded and gave the young girl a smile. "Daddy says you're scary."

"Hey, Myou…" Natsu said nervously, feeling a sense of dread washing over him under Erza's glare. "I told you she _can_ be scary, but what else did I tell you about her?" He asked, trying to steer the conversation down a different path.

"He says you're one of the strongest mages here. I saw you on the TV when you fought all of those monster guys, you were amazing!" Myou exclaimed, spewing food out in front of her. "I want to grow up to be as strong as you someday!"

Erza blushed at the bold statement. "If you work hard and train regularly, you can get there someday." She cast a quick look over at Natsu and decided to have fun with him a little bit. "In fact, up until recently, your dad challenged me to a fight almost daily but was never able to beat me."

"Wow, you must be super strong if he couldn't beat you! Imagine how bad you would beat Sting if-"

"Hey, I told you to stop trying to get a rise out of him." Naruto said over to her. She pouted up at him and he found himself smiling. He leaned down close to her, his grin widening. "I don't want to have to hurt him today anyways." Myou giggled and nodded in acceptance. Natsu ruffled her hair and went back to his food.

Myou swung her feet back and forth from her seat and redirected her attention back to Erza. "Can I ask you something Miss Scarlett?"

Erza blushed and smiled uneasily. "Just Erza is fine. What can I answer for you?"

"How did you get so strong? Daddy told me about your past…" Myou said weakly.

Erza smiled weakly and looked down at the table. "For the longest time it was so I wouldn't get anyone hurt for me being as weak as I was in the past, so I could get revenge on the ones that hurt my friends. Now? Now I just want to keep anything like that from ever happening again."

Myou was sitting on the edge of her seat with stars in her eyes. "I wish I could grow up to be as strong as you aunt Erza!"

Erza blushed at yet another new nickname from the young girl. "Well it won't come easy; you are going to have to work really hard to stand a chance!" She thrust a fist up in the air with her declaration.

Myou pushed her empty plate away, jumped up and stood up on her chair. "I'll grow extra strong and be strong enough to protect Fairy Tail!"

Natsu grabbed Myou off the chair and threw her up in the air only to have her land sitting on his shoulder. "Time for the next surprise Myou."

"Where are we going Daddy?" Myou asked curiously.

"You're new home." Natsu commented calmly. Myou squealed excitedly and bounced on his shoulder before squeezing his head. Natsu smiled and started off towards the door, only stopping just before they left. "Mira! If Master decides he needs me, Myou and I will be back at our place."

Mirajane waved the two off before sighing and leaning on the counter with her elbows. "I never thought I'd see the day that Natsu of all people would become a father. Not that I'm complaining, they look cute together."

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" Mirajane shot a glare over at her little sister. "Oh don't be that way, I was only teasing." Lisanna said walking up next to her sister. "Besides, I'm sure you have some kind of plan to get him involved with someone."

Mirajane straightened and forced a bright smile back onto her lips. "Something like that. With how cute little Myou is, maybe I'll just take him for myself."

Lisanna sighed and shook her head. "Do you really expect me to believe you have feelings for him? You always treat him like a little kid. Besides, we already promised to get married as kids, so he's mine."

Mirajane smirked and raised an eyebrow at her sister, casting a judging look up and down Lisanna. "Nothing more interesting than a little competition. What do you say, first to get into his pants wins?"

"No! I'm not after him that way!" Lisanna cried out, blushing wildly.

"Relax, it was just a joke. Don't worry about it so much." Mirajane said with a slight giggle. Her smile faltered. "But we may have another problem. I'm not sure Natsu _knows_ what to do in one of those situations." Before Lisanna could respond Mirajane ran around the counter and off towards a certain Ice mage and Dragon Slayer that were currently in an argument. As if sensing her approaching presence, the two both froze and paled, but turned to acknowledge her. "We need to talk." She said flatly. Both Gray and Gajeel shivered and nodded woodenly.

* * *

Myou didn't stay on Natsu's shoulder for long. She had far too much energy to sit still and jumped from his shoulder onto the ground, running as soon as she hit. "Come on, we can't waste any time!"

Natsu laughed and started to jog after her. "Wait! You don't even know where you're going." Myou merely giggled and sprinted off as fast as she could towards the edge of town. She knew through his stories that he lived out in the forest. In a matter of minutes, and a few directions from Natsu to Myou so she could keep the lead, Myou found herself standing in front of the small shack.

"Sorry it isn't much, but this is home." Natsu stepped past the young woman and pushed the door open, reminding himself mentally that he needed to start locking the door with another house mate living there all the time. No, his daughter living there from now on. "It'll just be us for a couple of days until Happy gets back. You are going to love him!" Natsu couldn't help but laugh. Happy had always done exceedingly well around children and it would only be a matter of time until Myou and Happy were the best of friends.

Natsu was brought out of his thoughts as a little black blur sped past him into the main room of the house. It didn't take long for her to speed around the house and find her room, which had previously been used for storage of most of Natsu's treasure from his past missions. The items in question had been moved into a storage unit back in town, and though they weren't worth much, the memories that they held within were worth more to Natsu than anything else he could have ever wished for. Except Myou, he didn't need a room for memories when he had her.

Myou squealed in excitement and threw herself onto her bed. "Is this really all for me?" She was practically in tears at this point.

Natsu dropped onto the bed next to her. "All of it. And everything else you want." He gave her a small hug and ruffled her hair. "What do you say we go catch ourselves some dinner?"

* * *

**Hopefully that wasn't too bad. Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions for what should happen in the future! Just so you know, yes in the next chapter the other girls will be introduced and how they are going to fit into the story!**


	6. The First Date

**Chapter 6: The First Date**

Crimson rays of light leaked in through the windows of Natsu's home signifying the ever approaching night. Myou let out a loud sigh of relief and pushed her plate away from her. "That was amazing."

Natsu couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head. "There is nothing better than catching your own dinner." In the silence that settled over them he let his gaze wander over to the window to watch the sun continue to set through the tree line. He was brought out of his musings at the sound of a chair being drug along the ground. He raised an eyebrow questioningly, but watched Myou out of the corner of his eye and remained silent.

Myou pulled the chair along the hardwood floors over to the sink. She left it there and grabbed both her plate and Natsu's from the table, and after disposing of the remaining fish bones into the trash, she hopped up on the chair. Natsu was floored. Until recently he hadn't even bothered to clean up after himself, but he certainly hadn't expected to see an eight year old girl start cleaning on her own. "Daddy, where do you keep the dish soap?" Myou asked over her shoulder, her smile never fading.

Natsu felt her smile infecting him and grinned along with her. He slipped out of his seat and bent down by the sink and pulled the dish soap and a dishtowel out of a cupboard, handing her the dish soap. "You wash, I'll dry."

A comfortable silence fell on the two once more as they went on to clean all of the dishes that they had used for dinner. After they finished Natsu picked her up and set her down on the floor next to the chair. "Go on and get yourself ready for bed. There is some shampoo, condishoner and body wash already in there. Oh, and a toothbrush by the sink for you. You'll know it when you see it and if you don't like it you can blame Lisanna, she helped me pick them out. I know you don't have any pajamas yet, so I'll lay out something for you."

Myou grinned and grabbed his side in another hug to which Natsu wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her to his side for a moment. She eventually pulled away and ran off towards the bathroom. Natsu called after her to tell her that the towels were in the hall closet.

Natsu busied himself by wiping off the table and countertops, absently listening to her start her bath water. Trying to give her the privacy she deserved, Natsu started to tone it out and instead occupied himself by grabbing one of his larger tee shirts. He sighed down at the clothes and shook his head, mentally berating himself for not taking her shopping beforehand. He cracked the bathroom door open and set the shirt on the sink before pulling out and going to the living room to lie on the couch and plan for the following day.

The Dragon Slayer lost track of time as he stared up at the ceiling, only coming back to reality when Myou calmly walked up to the edge of the couch and climbed up next to him to lie with him, lifting his arm to cuddle up against his side comfortably.

"Anything you want to do tomorrow?" Natsu inquired turning his head to look down at her. "We already need to take you shopping for some clothes."

Myou shook her head in response. "I don't think so. Maybe we can go back to Fairy Tail sometime?"

Natsu chuckled and smiled. "Oh you can bet we will be there tomorrow. We will be there almost every day depending on whether I'm on a mission or not. Now, it's gonna be a long day tomorrow. What do you say we head to bed?" Natsu suggested. Myou nodded her head in affirmation and let out a small yawn. Letting out a small grunt at sitting up, Natsu scooped her up in his arms and held her close. Myou wrapped her tiny arms around his neck and cuddled up close, only letting go when he pulled back the covers of her bedding and laid her down.

He pulled the covers up to her chin before sitting on the edge of the bed. "I'm going to warn you now, I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing as a parent. Never had any myself from what I remember so if I'm not living up to your expectations let me know. As long as you don't go telling Erza or Mirajane on me then everything should work out. We are in this together." He gently rested his hand on her silky black hair and smoothed it against her head.

Myou smiled happily up at him, her golden eyes piercing into his. He couldn't help but be mesmerized at the striking comparison between her hair color and her eye color. "Can you read me a story?" She asked.

Natsu nodded and continued his idle stroking of her black strands. "I think we can come up with something. What kind of story do you want? Something about a princess and her kingdom? How about a valiant knight fighting evil? Oh! How about a true story about how a Dragon saves his princess from an evil king?"

Myou furrowed her brow. "How can a Dragon save a princess? Aren't Dragon's evil and mean? I thought the knight was supposed to save her and live happily ever after…"

Natsu chuckled and shook his head. "Sometimes help doesn't come from the places you think it should. Alright…" Natsu spread his arms out in front of him." Picture a grand building surrounded by vast gardens full of flowers. Now, the princess loved the king with all of her heart, but after her mother's passing the king had grown cold and distant. Having decided that she had taken enough abuse from her cold father, the princess decided to run away.

"During her travels, the princess came across a Dragon and quickly befriended it, enough that he took her home with him. The Dragon and his friends gave her something that her father never could have; they gave her a reason to smile. Together, the Dragon and his friends took the princess out on adventures to show her how grand the world really was. They showed her that there was nothing to be afraid of." He continued, drawing the story from memory.

"But her father was never one to let go of something that he deemed valuable and hired mercenaries to go and steal her back from her new found friends. They attacked her friends and while the rest of them went after the mercenaries, the princess was kidnapped by the leader of the mercenaries. He took her to his hideout so he could take her back to her father when the rest of his men came back for her. He locked her up in a tower with no way out except a window.

"She had faith in the Dragon that he would come to save her and although her hands were bound together, the princess threw herself from the window when her captors turned their backs on her. Her Dragon friend lived up to that trust and caught her before she could hit the ground and together the two of them took her back home to where all of her friends were. All of the princess' friends hid her away to try and keep her safe, but she was once again taken by the mercenaries.

"The mercenaries were angry with the princess and the fact that she had escaped so they hurt her. They gave her to another Dragon and made him hold her hostage. This time, the princess wasn't able to get away and her friends came to save her. The Dragon that was her friend threw himself into battle with her captors, attacking the one holding her hostage with everything he had. Eventually, her captors defeated, the princess went home once again with the Dragon and her friends. From that day on, the Dragon vowed to protect her with his life."

Myou yawned and closed her eyes so she could burrow deeper into her covers. "What happened after that? Did they live happily ever after?"

Natsu smiled sadly down at his daughter. "For a time they did, for a time they stayed together and remained the best of friends. But not anymore. Now, through no consequence of what the Dragon did, she won't see him. That doesn't stop him though. He still sees her as one of his friends and will keep his word to protect her, even if she doesn't want his help any longer."

Myou frowned. "That isn't a good ending to a story."

"That depends on who you ask." Natsu replied. "If you ask the Dragon, he would say he was sad, but at the same time he was happy. The princess' happiness and safety is more important to him than it is to have her by his side."

Myou wasn't fooled by it though. "So what happened between the princess and Dragon that they aren't talking anymore?"

Natsu ruffled her hair and bent down to kiss her forehead. "That's a story for another night. Get some rest and I'll see you in the morning. Remember, I'm just across the hall if you need me."

Natsu shut off her light and slipped out of her door, leaving it cracked behind him. After tossing his shirt in the hamper he washed his face and brushed his teeth, opting to keep his shorts on to sleep in. Giving the bathroom a quick once over he was pleasantly surprised to see that she had put everything back exactly as he had left it out for her. No matter what he thought would happen, she continued to surprise him. Maybe all of those years she had been hoping for a family had convinced her that she needed to be perfect to ensure that he wouldn't kick her out.

After a quick mental note to sit down and talk to her about everything, the Dragon Slayer went around the house and checked all of the locks and after shutting off all the lights he slipped into his room as silently as he could and dropped himself into his hammock.

Despite the fact that he was tired, Natsu continued to stare up at the ceiling in darkness. He hadn't remembered the last time that he had ever felt so complete. Before he even realized it, sleep had claimed him.

Natsu jerked awake and snapped into a sitting position. "Wh... What's going on?" He rubbed his eye and looked over to see Myou standing at the edge of his hammock and laid back down. "What's going on baby girl? Having trouble sleeping?"

Myou nodded curtly and pulled the blanket tighter around her. "Can I sleep with you tonight? I'm not used to sleeping in a room by myself yet…"

Natsu smiled and nodded his head. "Come on up here, we'll just have to ease you into sleeping in your own room little by little." He reached down and pulled her up into his hammock with him and wrapped his arms around her to hug her to him. The young girl sighed happily and quickly found herself falling asleep.

**The Next Morning**

"Pedophile! Pedophile! Natsu is a pedophile!" Natsu groaned and wrapped his arms tighter around Myou, trying to ignore the voice. "EEEEERRRRRZZZZAAAAAAA!" The voice cried out, fading into the distance.

"Who was that Daddy?" Myou asked sleepily. She pushed back from Natsu and slipped onto the ground.

Natsu sighed and pushed himself into a sitting position once again. "That was Happy, you remember what I told you about him right? He probably misread the situation. Don't worry, he'll come back eventually. More to the point, want some breakfast?"

Myou nodded happily while Natsu stretched his arms up, his back and shoulders popping in the process. "Go get dressed and I'll make us something, then we'll head to get you some new clothes before heading off to the Guild." Myou smiled and ran off towards her room.

Natsu quickly changed out of his shorts into a pair of loose fitting pants and a dark red muscle shirt as well as his usual sandals. By the time Myou came out of her room combing her waist-length black hair, Natsu was pulling a pan from a cupboard while turning on the stove with his free hand. "Do me a favor and pull out four plates and forks for me." He requested over his shoulder while grabbing the rest of what he needed to cook breakfast.

"Four? Are we expecting company?" Myou asked, though she did as was requested of her. Natsu smiled and nodded.

"Of course we are. Didn't you hear Happy this morning? He ran off to find Erza because he thought we were doing something inappropriate and wanted to tell on us."

Myou, being an innocent eight year old, didn't quite understand what it was that they could have been doing wrong. "Why would he tell on us that I was sleeping with you?"

He instantly regretted his choice of words and hung his head. This was one conversation that he didn't want to have with her just yet. Hell, he had to find out the hard way about such things. He shuddered at hearing how Cana bragged about her constant affairs with Laxus. He waved his hand absently in front of his face to get rid of the terrifying images. "We didn't do anything wrong, it was just Happy overreacting again."

Myou puffed out her cheeks and pouted for a moment. "If we didn't do anything wrong, then why…?"

She stopped when Natsu set a hand on her shoulder and maneuvered her to his other side. Not a half second later, their front door was knocked off its hinges and flew across the room to slam into the wall a few feet to the side of the fridge. Wood splinters rained down on Natsu who was blocking Myou with his body. Myou looked up at him quizzically, if a little worried.

"This isn't the first time I've had her kick down my door." He responded with a smile. He grabbed the pan in his hand and moved over to the table with Myou staying behind his legs. "You're just in time for breakfast Erza, why don't you have a seat?"

Erza stomped into the kitchen and glared at Natsu. "What did you do to Myou?"

Natsu scooped food onto each of their plates and raised an eyebrow at the redhead. "I don't understand. She's right here." He motioned for Myou to come around him and take her seat.

Erza glared at him and pulled out one of her swords from her collection. "You know what I'm talking about. Happy said she was dressed in one of your shirts and was sleeping in your hammock with you while you yourself were shirtless."

Natsu feigned ignorance on how that could have been misconstrued. "And? I'm not allowed to sleep with my daughter?"

Erza's face darkened and her face was shadowed by her bangs. "She is a little girl! How could you do something like that…"

Natsu laughed abruptly, unable to keep the charade going on any longer. "Oh come on Erza, am I really that despicable a person that you would jump to that conclusion? It's her first night here. She wanted a little comfort so I let her sleep with me for the night. As for her clothes, she doesn't have any pajamas yet, so instead of having her wear her dress to bed I gave her something that she could be comfortable in for the time being."

Erza's arms drooped at her sides, the tip of her sword resting against the hardwood flooring. "I-I guess I o-overreacted… I'm sorry."

"Well are you going to join us for some food or not?" Natsu asked taking his seat across from Myou. Happy, having kept quiet the whole time, dropped onto the table next to Myou and started to eat silently. Erza let go of her sword and watched it fizzle out of existence before she took her own seat next to Natsu, mumbling her thanks.

Most of the breakfast was pleasantly silent, but Myou couldn't hold in her excitement for much longer. Her legs swung back and forth at the sides of the chair and she watched the redheaded Mage slowly consume her breakfast. "Where did you learn to fight?" She asked suddenly.

Erza looked up and looked at Natsu, silently asking if he was okay with her telling her story. Natsu shrugged and gave a small nod. "Well… you see, I was a slave for the first few years of my life…" She went on to tell Myou about how she had been a captive in the Tower of Heaven with her other friends and how during a revolt, Rob had sacrificed himself so that she could get away and sent her to Fairy Tail and her life learning how to protect her friends.

Myou, for her part, had forgotten about the rest of her food and was staring at Erza with unabated excitement. "To have gone through so much and still have turned out so strong… you really are amazing Erza." Erza blushed and smiled brightly at the young girl.

"What do you hope to do with your abilities?" Erza asked.

"I'm gonna learn to fight and get so strong that none of you can keep up with me!" Myou exclaimed. "Then I'll be able to protect everyone from anything and everything!"

Natsu and Erza chuckled to themselves. "Before we can do that, we need to get you some clothes." Natsu said taking their empty plates over to the sink and rinsing them off for the moment. "We can finish cleaning later, let's head into town and get this over with."

Myou hopped off the chair and ran her brush back into her room before coming back and taking a look at the blue cat that was still sitting on the table. "So you're happy. I'm Myou."

Happy frowned and folded his arms in front of his chest. "Are you sure Natsu didn't do anything wrong? Even if he didn't understand what he was doing-"

"Oi! Say that to my face!" Natsu shouted, brandishing his fist at the Exceed.

Myou giggled. "Nothing bad happened Happy, you don't have to worry." Happy stared at her for a few moments before shrugging and climbing up her dress up into her arms and Myou hugged him to her.

Natsu sighed and ruffled Myou's hair slightly, much to her disdain, mumbling something about having just combed her hair out. He waved it off and gestured for Myou and Erza to lead the way out of the wide-open doorway. He stepped around the side of the house and brought another door back around, similar to the one that Erza had kicked off. "You're lucky that I keep spares lying around for whenever Lucy gets mad and kicks it down." He said sending a playful glare over at Erza.

She blushed again and turned her back on him. "I said I was sorry. Let's just go already. It's not right that she only has one set of clothes."

Natsu followed behind the three towards town. "So you're coming with us?" He asked Erza, already knowing the answer.

"Of course! You wouldn't be able to pick out anything that would suit a young lady."

"But we are already meeting Mirajane and Lisanna in town to help with that, you don't have to if you have something else you need to do." Natsu suggested. Erza scoffed and waved him off like he hadn't even said anything.

The four quietly entered the town and found Mirajane and Lisanna sitting at a café where they had been waiting for Natsu and Myou. Once the young girl saw the two she skipped her way over and stood next to their table, still holding Happy in her arms tightly to her chest. "Daddy said we would be meeting you two here, is it true you are gonna help me get some new clothes?" The two smiled and nodded, but Myou got a glint in her eye when she saw a chance to meet one of her goals already. "You're just here to spend more time with Daddy aren't you?"

Lisanna spit her drink out and covered her mouth as she coughed. "Wh-what would make you say something like that? Of course we're only here for you!" She protested.

Mirajane however, didn't feel the same way. "Well I don't mind it that it gives me more time with him, but we really are here for you Myou." Myou shrugged and smiled to herself.

"Where should we head first?" She asked, not being very familiar with the town enough to lead the expedition for her own clothing. Mirajane noticed the slight twinkle in Myou's eye and, from experience, knew that the young girl was planning something. For once in her life, Mirajane didn't know whether or not she should interfere with someone's romance, even if it was her own. Instead, she smiled down at Myou and gave her a small wink to let her know that she knew that Myou was planning something. This only further deepened Myou's smile as she attempted to play innocent.

**Two Hours Later**

Natsu didn't know how much more he could take, what with Myou and her, not so subtle, attempts to get him closer to the Strauss sisters. But, somehow, he had managed to divert her attention to her new clothing whenever he thought she might be working towards her goal of finding herself a real mother. It wasn't that he didn't understand why she wanted one, but he didn't want it to be forced if he could help it.

Alas, the shopping trip was over and he held more bags in his arms than he thought could have been possible. Taking inventory of what they had bought, he knew for a fact that she could have worn a different outfit every day for a month before she got through everything she had bought. It didn't bother him that she wanted clothes, but she had practically drained him of his entire savings to get all of it. He sighed and slumped forward while trailing behind the four women in front of him by a dozen steps.

Myou turned and walked backwards while smiling at him with her hands clasped behind her back. "Thank you for taking me shopping today, Daddy. I've never had so many pieces of clothes that I could call my own before. Are you sure it's alright?"

Natsu sighed and gave her a small smile. "More than alright Myou. Are you ready to head to the Guild?" He asked straightening his back. He was happy to head into the Guild where he could burn off some of his energy with a mindless fight.

Mirajane smiled devilishly and wrapped an arm around Myou's shoulders. "Sorry Natsu, but you can't head to the Guild yet. If it's alright with you, I think us four should have a little girl time and we can meet you there."

Natsu shrugged. "I don't see why not. As long as Myou is alright going with you that is." He looked down at his little girl. "What do you say? I can run these home and meet you at the Guild." He said lifting the bags up.

Myou looked up at the three women and nodded her head vigorously. "But don't take too long!" She stated pointing a finger over at her father. "And don't get into any fights until I get there!" Lisanna giggled and ran her fingers through Myou's hair.

"Why don't you get one of your new outfits before he takes them off?" She suggested. Without warning, Myou ran up to Natsu and started going through the bags, looking for a certain outfit that she had in mind. Finally finding it, she snatched the bag out of his arms and hugged it to herself. She smiled up at Natsu for a moment before running back to the three women. "Alright, with that settled… See you in a bit Natsu." Lisanna said turning the girl around and walking away with her towards their destination.

Natsu watched them leave for a few minutes before making his own way back home. It only took him a few minutes to get back, but upon reaching it he realized that he had no idea how she wanted her clothes put away. Instead of thinking it over he just dropped the bags off on her bed and left again, jogging to the guild to get rid of some of the energy that he was practically brimming with.

As soon as he stepped through the doorway Natsu was assaulted by a flying table. He let out a surprised yelp and brought his arms up in front of his face to block himself and the table slammed into him and knocked him back against the door. "Oi! What's the big idea!" He cried out kicking the table out of his way and stomped his way towards the fight. It was exactly what he needed, but he had to stop when another table came flying at him from the side.

He was ready this time and turned to punch the wooden construct, shattering it instantly. He spun on the assailant and saw that he wasn't even the target in the first place. Sting stood behind Lucy, peaking over her shoulder at the women in front of him. "I said I would come back in a couple of weeks, I've only been here for a few days!" Sting shot at them confidently despite his obvious actions that proved otherwise.

"I don't want to hear it!" Minerva shouted angrily. "What Guild Master, no matter how new, leaves his Guild to go hang out with another!" This perked Natsu's ears up and he stepped closer without bringing attention to himself. This was news to him and he didn't want to miss out on it. "We are just getting back on our feet after the invasion and we…" She growled sadistically. "… we _need_ our Guild Master…" The word was venom on the woman's lips.

Yukino put her hand on Minerva's shoulder to try and calm her down. "What Minerva means, is that we have need for you to come back and give us guidance on how to proceed."

Sting glared over Lucy's shoulder. "I put you in charge while I'm gone Minerva. Take care of it."

Lucy looked down at the ground and groaned. "Look, if it's causing your Guild this much trouble… Maybe you should go back with them. I mean it's not like we won't see each other anymore or anything. What's a little long-distance relationship between us?" She suggested.

Natsu ran a hand through his hair. This was exactly what he should have wanted. He should have wanted Sting gone so he could have his teammate back. But not like this. He had been around her long enough to see that she was just putting on a brave front for everyone around and while it might have fooled a few people, Natsu was not one of them. '_I'm going to regret this later…_' He thought to himself.

Before Sting could retort that he didn't want to go, Natsu stepped up in front of Lucy facing the two Sabertooth women. "You can't have him." He said crossing his arms over his chest.

"Natsu, you're not helping!" Lucy whined.

Natsu turned and gave her a small glare to stop her from continuing. Once satisfied that she would remain silent he turned back to Minerva and Yukino. "What's the problem here? From what I gather Sting left you in charge Minerva. You always go on and on about how you want the most power. I'd think being the Master of a Guild, even if temporary, would be enough power for you for now."

Minerva seethed. "I don't care about what you say, he's coming with us whether he likes it or not."

"But that would make Lucy sad. I can't have that, so he stays." Natsu retorted. Despite his lack of planning, Natsu remembered Myou's teasing earlier and decided to use that to his advantage. "Oh I get it; you don't want someone else to have Sting."

"What are you going on about?"

"You're jealous." Natsu stated with a grin. "Lucy got her hooks in him before you could; now you want to take him away from her so you can have him for yourself."

Minerva snarled and raised one of her fists, black energy balling up around her fist as she made to hit Natsu. "What's going on here?" Boomed a loud, stern voice. Natsu unconsciously flinched and scratched the back of his head sheepishly while looking over at the door.

"Nothing Erza, just a little friendly conversation." Natsu said trying to defuse the situation that was bound to erupt.

Erza stormed over to the small group of Mages. "Just what does Sabertooth want with us now?" She growled.

Natsu sighed and ignored Minerva's attempts to reason with Erza to give Sting over, instead opting to turn and look for Myou and the Strauss sisters. His gaze settled on the trio standing not far off, each of them having changed their outfits. Mirajane had changed out of her usual dress to wear a pair of tight black pants and a dark green tank top that left a good portion of her cleavage in view. If not for the black leather jacket that barely reached past her breasts, she would have shown off a lot more skin.

Lisanna was dressed in pair of black short shorts and a gray sleeveless vest with a light red undershirt that ended just above her elbows. It sparked Natsu as odd that the two had changed clothes since they had parted, but he didn't think anything of it as he assumed they had changed when Myou had changed herself. Speaking of Myou he saw that she had gotten dressed in a blue and yellow sleeveless dress that just barely hovered past her knees with a set of white, fingerless, arm warmers (they are a thing, go look it up if you don't believe me). Her hair was tied off at the base of her neck with a single golden ribbon before letting it fall down her back.

As soon as he saw her, Myou spun for him to show off her clothes before running up to him and jumping into his arms. It was safe to say that at that point he had completely forgotten about the argument between the Sabertooth Mages and Erza over Sting. The only indication that something was wrong was when everything was too silent around him. He let Myou drop to the ground before looking around him. Sting was still hiding behind Lucy and Erza was standing next to them, but when he looked over at Minerva and Yukino he saw what the problem was. Minerva's jaw was slack.

"Did I miss something?" He asked hesitantly, wrapping an arm around Myou's shoulder to keep her close and away from Minerva.

"I knew there was something off about you… No one could be that strong and not have some kind of… quirk…" Minerva muttered. "I didn't expect you to have a thing for children though. Like them young, do you?"

Natsu cocked his head to the side before looking down at Myou, then back up at Minerva. "How else are they supposed to come?" He asked, completely confused by what Minerva was getting at. "She kind of has to be young doesn't she? Isn't that the way it works?"

Myou, seeing Natsu's distress, elbowed him in the ribs. "That's not what she meant, Daddy. She thinks I'm your girlfriend."

Natsu looked over at Minerva and Yukino for confirmation and received two nods. He did what came naturally, and laughed. "What makes you think that? She's eight for crying out loud. She's my daughter."

"You expect me to believe you have a daughter?" Minerva asked, rather skeptical.

"It would make sense." Yukino muttered. "He was gone for seven years on Tenroujima; he wouldn't have had to have had her but a year before they disappeared."

Myou pulled away from Natsu, determined to remedy the situation. "He adopted me yesterday. Don't worry, you still have a chance at him if you want him."

Natsu flicked Myou's ear. "I've told you, I'm not dating yet."

Myou rubbed her ear and glared at her father. "You don't have to be so mean about it. Besides, you are dating, you have a date this afternoon." Natsu flinched and practically fell over while backing away from Erza, expecting the redhead to be furious.

"I don't know what you're talking about Myou, but we can talk about it later. Right now we have to get Minerva and Yukino to head back and leave Sting here."

"He's one of our strongest members. You can't expect us to just leave him with another guild!" Minerva exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air, happy that the conversation had finally turned back to what was at hand. "We get weaker while you get stronger. It's not fair! If all you are worried about is Lucy being happy, just send her over with him."

Natsu turned around to ask Sting what he thought should happen, since it was his Guild on the line, only to find that he and Lucy had disappeared somehow. "Well… that settles that." He turned back to Minerva and Yukino. "He's gone."

Minerva pushed Natsu aside and growled. "You know what? Fine, if he wants to stay here let him be. He can stay here with blondie and rot for all I care." She turned and started to storm out.

Natsu groaned and grabbed Minerva's wrist and stopped her in place. "Don't be like that Minerva. We just got over with a traumatic experience. Just calm down and we'll figure something out that doesn't leave everyone angry and bitter."

Minerva snatched her hand back from Natsu's grasp. "Since when did you start thinking logically?"

Natsu shrugged and pointed at Myou who was sitting on the countertop of the bar. "Blame her." Myou merely grinned happily and swung her legs back and forth.

"Fine, we'll stay for now. But you better think of something fast!" She threatened. Natsu raised his hands defensively and leaned against the bar next to Myou.

He waited until Minerva and Yukino walked away and settled down at a table of their own before wrapping an arm around Myou's shoulders to draw her close. He kept his voice low. "Now, what did you mean by I'm already going on a date this afternoon? As far as I know, we are having lunch then we are going to take a simple job to make a little money."

Myou blushed and leaned close to him to whisper in his ear where no one would hear her. "Cat lady is in town and looking for you." Natsu raised an eyebrow at her, but waited for her to continue. "I told her we would meet her at a café."

"That doesn't sound like a date to me… Wait! That isn't the point!" He exclaimed leaning his head back. "I don't want to date anyone right now. I don't want to have to divide my time with you and someone else."

"That's why I'm going with you." Myou tapped her lower lip with a finger and nodded her head, seeing no problems with the scenario that she had come up with. "Besides, if I don't make you do this then you won't do it."

Natsu sighed and dropped his head to stare at the ground. Since when did he fall so low that he had to be led by an eight year old? "Alright fine, but I'm not going happily. And if I hear you conspiring with Mira about any of this, I'll make you pay for it."

She nodded in acceptance and hopped off the bar. "Come on, we have to get you cleaned up for your date." Natsu groaned, but let himself be drug away.

**At a Café an hour later**

For the fifth time, Natsu sighed and looked around the café. Myou hadn't let him order anything to eat since they had sat down and he was starting to get hungry already. "While we're waiting, what do you want to learn first?" Natsu asked.

Myou hummed to herself and slid her glass back and forth between her hands. "Well I need to get control of my magic before I can be of any use. That and I need to learn how to fight in case that fails. What kind of fighting style do you use?"

Natsu grinned and clenched his fist on top of the table. "I'm durable, so I fight more like a brawler. I can take a lot of hits and when I do, it leaves my opponent open for a counter attack. When that opening shows itself, I hit them back a thousand times harder than they hit me." He exaggerated.

Myou giggled and watched while wrapped in excitement. It always showed in his eyes how much he enjoyed fighting. She had never seen anyone as passionate about anything as he was about fighting. "Do you think you could teach me to fight like you do?"

Natsu hummed as he thought about it, looking her over before shaking his head. "No can do, little miss." He poked her side and she couldn't help but giggle and squirm away from him. "You're too doughy and sensitive for that right now. You would do better to learn to fight like Wendy. You remember, I told you about her. She is a Dragon Slayer too, and is almost as durable as I am. But, she isn't as strong. Instead she fights fast. Her little body makes it so she can maneuver more than anyone I've seen fight."

"Are you calling me weak?" Myou pouted jokingly.

Natsu laughed and tickled her sides briefly. "You aren't weak, Myou. You just haven't figured out where your strengths are yet. We will have to figure that out. You know you don't have to fight if you don't want to right?" Myou shook her head. "What I mean is that you don't have to be on the front lines. You can be like Master Mavis. She strategizes and plans for everything. You could be like her if you tried hard enough."

"Why haven't I met her yet?" Myou asked and Natsu faulted for a moment.

"Well… Only Fairy Tail members can see her and you aren't actually a member yet." He explained gesturing to his tattoo on his right arm. "Once you get one of these, you'll officially be one of us and I'm sure she would love to actually meet you."

Myou nodded in acceptance and went back to humming to herself and sipping on her ice water while they waited for Millianna to show up. Another ten minutes passed before Millianna stormed into the café breathing heavily and scanning for the duo. When she saw them she sighed and took a deep calming breath before walking over to them.

"Sorry to make you wait… My mission took a little bit longer than I had expected." Millianna explained dropping into the booth across the table from Natsu and Myou. "Don't we look especially cute today?" She gestured to Myou's new outfit. "How does it feel being out of the orphanage?"

Myou smiled enthusiastically. "It's unbelievably amazing." She giggled and elbowed Natsu in the side, gesturing with her eyes for him to say something.

Natsu sighed and put on his best smile, realizing that it wasn't really all that forced. He was actually happy to see Millianna. "It's good to see you Millianna. What were you in town for?"

Millianna blushed slightly and picked up her menu so she could hide her pink tinted cheeks. "It's good to see you too Natsu, especially with how well you seem to be getting along with Myou. But, I was here for a delivery mission. I would have been done on time if I didn't have to hunt down my contact to give him his supplies."

Natsu nodded to himself, understanding what it was like to be in the middle of a job and not have his contact show up on time. The three continued with light conversation, and after ordering their meals, started to discuss what they had planned for the foreseeable future. When their food came, the conversation stopped and they ate peacefully with Natsu trying his best not to make a fool of himself. It wasn't that he cared what Millianna thought of him when he ate, more about what Myou would do if he acted obscenely.

At the end of their lunch, Myou excused herself to the restroom and Natsu used that time to address the situation with Millianna. "I'm sorry that she forced you on a date with me."

Millianna dropped her fork and stared at him. "D-d-date? W-what do you m-mean date?"

It was Natsu's turn to be confused. He had clearly heard Myou tell him that he had had a date with Millianna for lunch. "Myou… she said she met up with you earlier and convinced you to join us on a date?" He asked trying to alleviate the situation that he had created. He finally sighed and shook his head. "Forget I said anything… sorry about that."

Millianna let everything process for a few seconds before responding. "Are you telling me that this was actually a date?" Natsu sheepishly nodded, albeit hesitantly. "Well isn't that something… My first date in two years and I didn't even know it." She laughed lightly to herself.

"Can we just pretend I didn't say anything? If you aren't comfortable with it you can go and I'll make something up for why you had to leave."

Millianna shook her head and smiled. "Let's just play it out for now, Myou obviously worked on this one so we shouldn't just throw it out the window until we know for sure how things will go." Natsu nodded and picked at the last of his food while they waited for Myou to come back.

After they finished off their food, Millianna declared that she had to get back to her Guild to let her Guild Master know that she had finished her mission. "It was fun, thanks for taking me out."

When it was obvious that Natsu wasn't going to ask, Myou stepped up and hugged Millianna's waist. "Are we going to see you again soon?"

Millianna smiled and rested a hand on Myou's shoulder briefly. "You know, it wasn't nice to trick me into going on a date with you dad. It wasn't bad, but I don't know if I'm ready to date. I'll think it over and you'll hear from me soon enough." She turned to Natsu with a small knowing smile. "I had a good time, don't get me wrong."

Natsu nodded and pulled her into a small hug, letting go before Millianna could get over her surprise. "Don't be a stranger now." He gave her a small wink over Myou's head to ensure that the girl didn't see it. "I look forward to hearing from you." Without waiting for her to reply, Natsu took Myou's hand and pulled her away with him back towards the Guild. They had a mission to grab.

Millianna stood against the wall for a few minutes and let the whole thing wash over her. She had to admit, it was a good date, even if she hadn't known it was a date until near the end. For that matter, she knew that Natsu was a good looking guy, and it wasn't like guys were constantly begging for a date with her. While if she dated him, it wouldn't have to lead to anything more, but she knew that if she did start dating him then it could very well lead to something more than a simple relationship. The only real hang up she had on the matter was Myou.

Myou was an excellent child, and a joy to be around. But… Millianna didn't know if she was ready to be a mother yet. If she went into a relationship expecting it to go nowhere, then it wouldn't have been worth anything to even start the relationship in the first place.

Millianna slapped her cheeks and shook her head. Now wasn't the time to debate her relationship status with the Dragon Slayer. She had a job to do first, then she would decide what she was comfortable with.

**Alright! Well, sorry for the wait, but life got in the way of my free time. Not pleasant life either, the crap-that-everyone-hates sides of life.**

**I'm back to 100% now. And like I said before, he isn't just going to CHOOSE someone on a whim and decide he loves them. But at the same time he isn't going to date six people at the same time. No, things will go slow and feelings may or may not be hurt and there will be some harsh words. Mostly towards my favorite-couple-to-hate. I shouldn't have to explain who that is, I've made it pretty evident thus far.**


	7. Regret

**Chapter 7: Regret**

* * *

**Outside the Cafe**

* * *

Natsu spared a glance back at Millianna for a moment and watched as her expression molded between confusion, excitement, and apprehension before settling for a small unreadable smile. He himself had his own reservations about entering a relationship so soon. Okay, maybe it wasn't too soon, but he didn't want to devote time away from Myou to pursue a relationship that might or might not work out.

Sure, she was cute, he could give her that. Hell, he could go as far as to say that she was beautiful, maybe not in the typical flawless skin and shiny hair beautiful, but more of a feral presence that demanded his attention. Her tanned skin and whisker marks only served to further draw his attention, not to mention the way she dressed. As much as he hated to admit it, the way her revealing clothes accentuated her body changed the way he looked at her. Honestly, he was happy for the cloak that she constantly wore. It gave him a chance to see who she was underneath her figure.

Natsu was jerked down, and out of his thoughts, to see that Myou had her fist balled up in the front of his shirt with her brow scrunched in what he could only assume was worry. "Sorry… what did you say?" He asked sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. Myou huffed in response.

"Are you okay?" Natsu gave her a small smile and nodded.

"Just a little distracted. Anyways, what were you saying?"

Myou smiled slyly. "Thinking about a certain cat lady?"

Natsu sighed inwardly. "She has a name you know." He took her hand from his shirt and snapped his head down the street. Without warning the Dragon Slayer snatched her up in his arms and leapt into the air, vaulting them up onto a nearby roof. Myou squealed in excitement and clutched tightly to him. She was about to question him when he hid them behind the crest of the roof and put his finger to his lips.

After a few moments Natsu gestured her up with him and they peaked over the edge. He pointed off down the road a ways towards where they had just come from a few moments prior. Myou squinted her eyes and smiled when she saw several of the Fairy Tail Mages chatting and walking towards the direction of the Guild. The way they were heading, they were due to head directly under them. "How did you know they were behind us?" She whispered.

Natsu grinned proudly and gestured to his nose. "I can smell really well. I could smell her a mile away considering I've known her for… counting the seven years we were gone… fourteen years." The comment didn't go unnoticed by Myou, but looking down at the group, she didn't know who exactly he was talking about. Letting it go, both looked down on the passersby for a few moments before Myou whispered over to her father.

"Do you think they know we are here?" Natsu shook his head. "Then what do you say we have a little fun with them?"

Natsu's eyes glinted mischievously. "What do you have in mind?" Myou giggled silently and leaned in closer to him to give him her plan, always keeping her eyes locked onto the group of Mages. After a few details, she knew that Natsu could see where it was all heading so she let him throw a few of his own tips into the plan since he knew better about what would work because he knew the individuals and how they would react.

The two nodded together and grinned evilly. Gesturing for Myou to turn around he took off his scarf and wrapped it around her neck and shoulders so it held her hair down. "Stay up here and keep your eyes on them for me, I'm going to go down and get our supplies." With that he slipped off the edge of the building on the opposite side from the Mages.

Myou immediately went back to the ledge and watched the mages, slowly sliding to the side so she could watch the group walk. While she waited, she went back to thinking about what he had stated earlier. 'He said he could smell _her_ a mile away, not them.' She thought to herself while she scanned the group. Her eyes immediately locked onto the buxom blonde of the group that was hanging off her boyfriend. 'No, couldn't be her… He only met her a year before they disappeared…'

They young woman found herself at the edge of the building she was lying on top of and, after taking a calming breath, jumped the short two feet to the other roof. She let out a sigh of relief when she landed safely. It only took her a moment to shake things off before settling her gaze back on the group to continue her analysis. 'Wendy? No, he hasn't known her long enough. Cana? No, according to Daddy she is already with Laxus and I don't think he has secret love for drinking…' She growled to herself before finally settling on two possibilities. 'Lisanna or Erza…' She thought to herself.

Both women had known the Dragon Slayer for the past fourteen years and he had spent a considerable amount of time with the both of them over the years. From what she remembered, Lisanna had practically dated the Dragon Slayer at a young age, the two of them raising Happy together until she had disappeared. Erza on the other hand, could have had a crush on Natsu at a young age, hence the reason she had been so rough on him from the first time they had met. They had also been on the same team for several years and, despite the past couple of months, spent a great deal of time together.

After jumping across two more gaps in the rooftops, Myou scowled down at the two Mages. They couldn't be at further ends of the spectrum. Erza was Fairy Tail's Titania; she was extremely strong and had a take-charge attitude. Yet despite her rough exterior, Myou could see that she held her façade because everyone needed it, they needed someone to fall back on in hard times. Lisanna on the other hand, was the complete opposite of the red haired beauty. She was kind and loving enough to give herself up for anyone of her friends. She may have been gone for a few years, but her place in Natsu's heart couldn't be stolen by anyone else. Myou just didn't know exactly where she sat in his heart.

Still pondering the idea, Myou nearly missed her next jump to the next building, barely catching the ledge. A gust of wind slipped under her and forcibly lifted her completely onto the rooftop. She looked down at the group to question if any of them had seen her and she caught Wendy smiling up at her slightly. As soon as they met eye contact, Wendy's smile fell off again and went back to her conversation with Erza by her side as if nothing had happened. Seconds later Natsu landed on the roof tiling next to her, hefting a good sized backpack over his left shoulder. "Did I miss anything good?"

Myou shook her head and gestured down at the group. "Wendy knows we're here so we might want to keep her out of it or she could warn the others."

Natsu nodded and unzipped the bag, handing her a couple of balloons. "I think she can handle herself. If she knows we are here, we won't be able to hit her regardless. Our best bet is to take down Erza first because she has the best reflexes. Gray is too stupid to realize what's happening, the two blondes are distracted and easy targets."

Myou hefted the balloons, two in each hand. "What about Lisanna? If she is anything like Mirajane then she is going to be pretty hard to hit."

Natsu grinned and shook his head while reaching deeper into the bag. "Don't worry about her; I have something in mind for her." Myou looked at him curiously but nodded anyways. "I'll count to four then I want you to let loose. It's your job to take down Gray, and Lucy. I'll take Lisanna and Sting. Your first shot however should be for Erza. We have to be fast to hit them all, but it'll be fun."

The Dragon Slayer set down the bag between them and unzipped it further so they could get into it easily. Using hand signals, Natsu counted up from one to four before they both released an array of balloons. The first balloon went wide and flew over Erza's shoulder. The second one, she saw coming and pulled a sword from out of thin air and spun it up to block the incoming projectile. The balloon split in half over the razor-sharp edge and splashed her with water. She stood completely still for a moment as balloons rained down on them before she screamed in rage. Her eyes spun up to the side and caught sight of Natsu standing on the top of one of the buildings next to them. "NATSU!"

Meanwhile, Gray stood completely dumbfounded by the situation and by this point was completely drenched. Sting however, after being hit by the one of the first few, hid behind Lucy and glared over her shoulder up at the Dragon Slayer and his daughter. Lucy was screaming her head off with her arms up in front of her to protect her face from the water balloons.

True to Natsu's word, the few that flew in the general vicinity of Wendy's small frame merely redirected their trajectory away from her. Lisanna, however, was another story. While Natsu had indeed thrown a few water balloons in her direction, he grabbed an even larger balloon and lobbed it over her head and threw a single stream of fire towards it. A loud BANG sounded and he grabbed Myou under his arm. Grinning at the six mages below, Natsu winked before taking off across the rooftops.

The girl under his arm laughed heartily as he sprinted over the rooftops, his backpack in her hands. After half a minute, Natsu jumped from the ledge and flipped her up against his chest so that her head was looking over his shoulder. "Erza, Gray, Sting and Lucy are following us. Whatever you did to Lisanna must have kept stopped her in her tracks."

Natsu chuckled to himself and kept his legs pumping, "You will see what happened soon enough. For now, just focus on the ones following us. Check the front of the bag." He gestured with his head over his left shoulder where she had slung the backpack. "There should be little white balls in the front pocket, use those to slow the down. Don't aim at them; instead hit the ground in front of them so they will have to run through the cloud. Make sure to throw it hard enough to break them open upon impact."

Myou didn't question him and immediately dug into the frontal pouch of the backpack over his shoulder. Without thinking she grabbed a handful of the small white balls, cocked her arm back to throw, and squeezed. The force of her grip shattered them immediately and a white powder exploded around them. A moment later Natsu and Myou burst through the cloud though he missed his footing on the uneven stone path and started to pitch forward.

Thinking quickly, he wrapped his arms around Myou's small frame, tucked her head into his shoulder, and spun them around so his back would hit the ground rather than landing on her. Mid-fall Natsu saw Erza's gauntleted fist rearing back to strike.

BANG

The force of the Dragon Slayer's back hitting the ground made the rest of their stash explode out of the small opening in his backpack. White dust obscured the view of the three with Erza's fist making a beeline for his face. The other three came to a stop at the edge of the cloud. Even though they wanted their revenge on the duo, they were smart enough to let Erza take the first shot at her prey before they would move in themselves.

Finally, after almost a full minute of silence, Wendy and Lisanna caught up, the latter having wrapped her hair in a bright red scarf. Her cheeks were dusted with a deep blush that nearly matched the scarf. Wendy on the other hand, was having trouble holding back her laughter; instead she held a hand up to her mouth to hide her obvious grin and let out small squeaks of stifled giggles. Their eyes settled on the looming cloud of white powder and, with a wave of her hand, Wendy blew the cloud of dust away in a gust of wind.

Everyone's jaw dropped. Erza's attack, while not meant to do any real harm to Natsu, normally would never have been stopped by the Dragon Slayer. Especially when he was too busy protecting Myou from the fall. While she was openly surprised she was blocked, Erza hadn't expected her titan-like strength to be stopped by an invisible barrier mere inches from the Dragon Slayer's closed eyes.

When he didn't feel the incoming attack, Natsu feared the worst and assumed that Myou had been hit. He threw his eyes opened and froze himself at the dented metal in front of his face. He blinked repeatedly as black strands obscured his view thinking his vision was wavering, maybe he actually had been hit and he just couldn't feel the pain. Slowly, Erza withdrew her fist and took a step back. The black streaks stopped wavering and fell against his skin. He reached up and brushed them from his view before following them to Myou.

Myou and Natsu met eyes when she peaked out from his shoulder, enough that he caught the glow in her eyes fade as her power. "How did you do that?" Natsu asked curiously.

Myou raised an eyebrow and turned to see the six Mages looking at them. "What did I do?" Unable to contain his enthusiasm Natsu barked out a laugh and sat them up.

"You blocked my attack. Are you saying you didn't do it intentionally?" Erza questioned in a cold tone. She hadn't forgotten about their prank, but this intrigued her more. It had been quite some time that someone had blocked one of her attacks when they weren't prepared for it.

Excitement ran its course through Myou. "You aren't joking with me here are you? I really did that?" Natsu nodded and grinned himself causing Myou to let out an ear piercing squeal. "I can't believe I blocked **The Titania's** attack!"

Natsu shot Erza a sly grin. "You must be losing your touch if you can't get past an eight year old's defenses." Erza's glare stopped that train of thought immediately and he raised his hands in mock surrender. "Be it as it may, this is something we will have to explore the possibilities here. My daughter might be the next Fairy Tail Ace at this rate!"

Erza stepped forward and slammed her fist on Natsu's unprotected skull to shut him up. "You still have to answer for your little prank that you pulled."

"Yeah!" Lucy called out. "You got my clothes all wet!"

Natsu scoffed but it was Myou that answered for him. "It was only water. I'm sure Daddy would be willing to dry your clothes out for you." She looked back and Natsu shrugged his shoulders to say that he would. "See? No harm done."

Sting shot a glare at his fellow Dragon Slayer. "I'll get you back for this."

Natsu shrugged again and stood up. "Whatever you say Princess, get over here and I'll be sure to burn… I mean dry your clothes off." He smiled slyly.

Sting stepped forward challengingly and Natsu's smile widened. Taking a quick but deep breath, Natsu shot a quick stream of fire over Sting's form. "Ahhh!" The blonde Dragon Slayer jumped backwards expecting the fire to hurt, but it merely licked at his skin and when he was finally away his clothes were steaming, but dry. He growled and narrowed his eyes, but Natsu's attentions had already left the blonde.

Erza stepped forward and locked eyes with Natsu's in a silent demand that he dry her off. Natsu shrugged again and stepped closer to her, bringing his hand up to her cheek. Erza flinched back slightly at the gesture, freezing when his thumb caressed her cheek momentarily. It was so brief that she wasn't even sure if it had really happened. Flames leaked out from around his wrist over his hand and across her delicate skin. In the blink of an eye the flames were gone again and her clothes were as dry as they had been when she had put them on that morning.

However, her back still felt wet and after a momentary check she saw that her hair was still wet. "Hey, my hair too... Just be careful not to burn it."

Natsu grinned and shook his head. "It looks better this way anyways, more natural." Erza felt a great surge of anger in her that burned for her to pound him where he stood, but that innocent smile made her think twice.

With a sigh she resigned herself to her fate and ran a hand through her damp hair. 'There's no way he was hitting on me… Is there?' She questioned herself silently.

Natsu turned to Gray who raided his hands and shook his head. "I'm dry."

"…"

"What?"

"…You're dry because you don't have any pants on." Wendy pointed out.

"What! Where the hell…" Gray spun where he stood looking for his clothes.

Seeing an opportunity to pull a quick one over on his rival Natsu jumped in front of Myou and covered her eyes. "Put something on you damned perverted popsicle! Quit trying to seduce my daughter!"

Those weren't the words that Erza heard. "Gray…" The Ice Mage slowly turned to see Erza angrily glowing over at him, her hair covering her eyes. He knew he was in trouble. "What have I told you about exposing yourself to children!?" Gray let out a cry trying to explain himself, but she wouldn't hear any of it and slammed her fist into his face, sending him flying off down the street.

Myou held her hand over her mouth as she giggled to herself, seeing Natsu give her a small wink. Oh she was going to enjoy breaking Gray from his stripping habits with a little help from Erza. She let out another joyful giggle when he ruffled her hair.

Natsu stepped over to Lisanna and reached his hand up to touch the scarf that hid her hair. "What's this for?" He asked innocently, pretending like he didn't know any better.

Lisanna pulled away from him with a blush, but steeled herself to glare at him. "Don't play dumb mister. You know exactly what you did. Just hurry up and dry me off and tell me how to fix… it." Her blush deepened.

Natsu grinned and reached his hand up towards her. "You know heat might just do the trick…" Lisanna's face lit up in hope. "Or… it might make it stay the way it is longer." Lisanna jerked back, but Natsu crossed the distance too fast and pulled the scarf from her hair quickly. Wendy, being the only one that had seen it, was the only one that didn't stare. Her ivory white hair had two dark blue streaks running down it, one to the left side of her face and the other draped over her right ear. The color matched her eyes perfectly, to the point that Wendy couldn't help but wonder how he had gotten it so perfect.

Natsu's hand ran through the streak on the left side of her face with a small smile. "Just as silky as the rest, I guess that old woman knows her chemicals…" He would never admit it, but he had gotten the idea as a prank from the constant teasing that he had gotten from everyone for his own hair color. In his younger years he had tried to dye his hair so he would fit in better, but it hadn't ended well and he had been left with an odd array of colors for a couple of months before Porlyusica had given him a specific set of ingredients to wash it out.

A low whistle rippled through the air. "Wow, I don't think that constitutes as a prank Miss Lisanna…" Myou said from her father's side. Lisanna blushed and looked away. She had thought it would make her look childish with steaks in her hair, but from the looks everyone was giving her she knew it wasn't having that effect. Before Lisanna knew what was happening, her clothes were steaming and she felt heat rush through over her scalp and she realized Natsu had dried her off.

Leaving a speechless Lisanna, Natsu turned to the last individual that was still wet. "So, Luce… Want me to dry you off?" Lucy glared at the Dragon Slayer.

"If you would ever be so kind." She agreed in a sickly sweet voice. Somehow, Natsu managed to keep his grin on his face and stepped up to her, reaching his hand up towards her cheek like he had done with Erza. She stepped back and out of his reach. "I would appreciate it if you kept your hands to yourself."

"Oh come on Luce, it was just a prank. Don't get so bent out of shape… here I'll fix you up just fine." He reached out again and, with obvious reluctance, Lucy let him touch her cheek though she kept her glare settled on him. Lucy let out a sigh when he didn't do anything funny and just dried her off. "See? All better."

Lucy scoffed and stepped away from him, unconsciously stepping next to Sting. It didn't go unnoticed by him, but he let it go since they were dating. "I would appreciate it if you didn't include Myou in on your pranks. You are setting a bad example for her."

Natsu's smile faltered and he had to force it to stay put. "Sorry, what? What's so wrong with a harmless prank?"

Lucy sighed. "You're a child yourself Natsu. Maybe not in age, but mentally you are younger than she is. At this rate you are going to do more harm than good if you don't shape up and start acting like her father."

His smile finally fell and his heart seized in his chest. He was silent for a few seconds before he was sure he could keep the betrayal out of his voice. "What are you saying Luce?"

Sting snorted. "She's saying you aren't fit to be Myou's dad, dumbass."

"I didn't ask you what you thought. I could care less what you say…" Natsu shot over towards Sting, the sudden anger in his voice forcing Sting to take a step back. "What are you saying Lucy?"

Lucy flinched inwardly at the way he said her voice. Secretly she had liked it when he called her Luce. No one else had ever been as close as he was to give her an endearing nickname and hearing him so cold only made her ache inside.

"Maybe we should all calm down…" Lisanna suggested, trying to calm down her friends.

"No, I want to know what my best friend means. So, Lucy, what exactly do you mean?"

Lucy flinched again at his icy black eyes. "I didn't… I mean… Maybe you-"

She never got the chance to finish when Natsu held up a hand to her. He looked down and she was finally able to draw a shaky breath without those cold eyes on her. "I understand… you don't need to say it." He turned away, but she caught the look of honest betrayal in his eyes, but in an instant he had an indifferent expression so no one could see his pain.

Myou, not used to seeing her father anything but happy and excited, grew worried for him. She stepped up to his side and gently slipped her small hand into his large hand to silently give him support. Natsu squeezed her hand gently, but couldn't bring himself to smile.

"Now that we have that out of the way, Erza…" The red haired woman cocked her head to the side questioningly. "Can you help me with something? Myou has been asking to see how I fight. I was wondering if you would spar with me so we could give her a little demonstration."

Erza smirked. "I don't think that would be a good idea Natsu. Myou doesn't need to see you get beat up too badly. She might think badly of me if I hurt you."

Natsu shrugged and turned towards the Guild with Myou. "Have it your way. I'll find someone else."

Sting grinned maniacally. "I'll fight you, I don't mind if she thinks badly of me. Maybe she'll finally see how worthless you really are."

Natsu didn't rise to the challenge and stepped past him. "I want a challenge, not a weakling." Natsu said emotionlessly as he passed, leaving the six Mages standing there by themselves.

Everyone watched as the Dragon Slayer and his daughter walked off down the street towards the Guild in shock. "Did… Did he just give up on fighting you Erza?" Lucy asked. "He has _never_ stepped aside when you turned him down before…"

Erza was also speechless at his actions. It was true, normally he would have begged to fight her until she got angry and knocked him out or something else took his focus off of her. Once again it was Lisanna that spoke the voice of reason. "I… I think what you said to him hit harder than we may yet realize… Why did you have to go and say that anyways?"

Lucy looked hurt herself, like it had been Natsu that had been in the wrong. "If he wasn't always acting like a child all the time, then I wouldn't have accidentally snapped at him like that!"

"What… the hell Lucy?" Gray shouted, having finally gotten back to the group with his clothes on. "What in the world happened between you two that you are so cold to him now? I never thought I'd see the day when you gave up on him. He brought you to us and we are lucky to have you here… but to see you two not by one another's side… it's kinda sad."

"So it's wrong that I grew away from him? Why am I the bad guy here? You don't even know what happened!" Lucy defended herself.

"Why don't you bring us up to speed then?" Erza said coolly. If she had to choose, she knew she wouldn't have been able to decide between Natsu and Lucy. The two meant too much to her and neither could replace the other, but to see them so far apart… it hurt her to know that her friends had a falling out this big.

"You know what? Fine..." Lucy sighed and hugged herself. "Let's go sit somewhere and I'll tell you what happened…" Without another word she turned on her heel and walked into a café that was close by.

* * *

**Fairy Tail Guild Hall**

* * *

Natsu gently pushed the doors open and scanned the grouping of Mages throughout the Guild. He was still looking for someone to help him show Myou what he was capable of. Though, if he had to be honest, he just needed to get his mind off the hurtful words that his best friend… no she had made it perfectly clear to him what they were. According to her, they weren't friends; they were Guild mates, teammates at one time yes, but no longer. In her eyes, they were a part of the same Guild, no more, no less.

His eyes settled on the resident barmaid that had taken over after the majority of Fairy Tail had disappeared for seven years. "Hey Kinana!" He called out with a small smile, pulling Myou along with him to the bar. "Have you seen Mira around?"

"Hey Natsu, Myou. It's good to see you two." Kinana said with a bright smile. "I think I saw her head up to the second floor to look over some of the S-Class missions."

Natsu nodded and gestured for Myou to take a seat at the bar with him. "Are Laxus or Gildarts anywhere?"

Kinana shook her head. "Gildarts still hasn't come back from his journey and Laxus is in a meeting with Master Makarov at the moment. Why what's up?"

Natsu hooked an arm around Myou. "I was planning on showing Myou here just what I was capable of and needed a good opponent. I guess I'll have to wait for either Mira or Laxus to finish with what they are doing before I can get that to happen."

"Why don't you go up there and ask her yourself? I'm sure she would be up for a spar." Kinana suggested. Natsu shook his head.

"No can do. The second floor is for S-Class mages only and I haven't gotten a promotion yet." He admitted somewhat bitterly.

The barmaid scoffed and set her rag down. "When has that ever stopped you?"

Natsu's smile faltered for a moment before he forced it back, though it didn't quite reach his eyes any longer. "I'm just trying to set a good example for the little one here." An idea popped into his head and he perked up a little. "You're allowed up there, do you think you could go ask her to come down for a minute?"

Kinana pondered the thought for a moment and nodded herself. "You're right, I'm allowed up there since I have to put the fliers up there. I'll go get her, hang on a moment." The purple haired barmaid disappeared from around the counter and up the stairs while the two waited down by the bar.

In a few minutes Mirajane and Kinana came down the stairs together, both of them chatting happily. Mirajane stopped in front of Myou and pulled her into another hug, "It's so good of you to come see me Myou! I hear you want to watch your Dad get the snot kicked out of him." She shot a sly grin over at the Dragon Slayer, but once again he didn't rise to the bait.

"I want to show her what I'm capable of. Erza said no so I thought I would come to you." Natsu said with a small smile.

Though Mirajane could tell that something was wrong with the Dragon Slayer, she wasn't one to back down from a good fight. "If that's what you want, fine. I'll help you with your little demonstration, but I won't hold back and I expect the same out of you. I do have a condition however."

Natsu immediately nodded. "Name it."

Inwardly Mirajane grinned, 'Trust Natsu to be so easy to trick.' She hugged an arm around Myou's shoulders and pulled the girl to her side. "Okay, I want to get to know little Myou here better. To do that, I want us all to do something together once in a while."

"Like a date?" Myou asked with a sparkle in her eye.

Mirajane blushed and started to stutter, not used to having her own technique used on her, much less by an eight year old. "I-I don't know a-about it being a d-date… but s-something like that y-yeah."

Myou grinned devilishly, "He accepts. Give me a good show then and I'll make sure he keeps his end of the deal." Mirajane was floored by the young girl's straightforwardness.

"I have a condition of my own for the fight." Natsu all but whispered, not looking at either of the two.

"Well as long as it doesn't limit my condition, I don't see a problem with it." Mirajane said with a nod.

"You have to use your Sitri Take-Over."

"…"

"That is your strongest Take-Over correct?"

"…Yeah, but why? I mean… not even Master can stand up to that form and I'm not always a hundred percent in control with it… sometimes it's too strong for me to control…" This worried Myou. She had seen Mirajane end Jenny in the Grand Magic Games in a single instant and couldn't help but worry about the safety of her father if Mirajane was to use that form.

"I'm not worried about it. I trust you and I want you at your best. Tell you what; if you do this for me I'll do whatever you want on our little adventures with Myou."

Mirajane immediately jumped on the chance. "Deal!"

Natsu smiled and nodded. "I'll go inform Master of our spar. Could you two take Myou over to the arena? I'll meet you there in a couple of minutes." Getting a nod from the barmaid, ex-barmaid, and his daughter, Natsu slipped off of the barstool and walked back towards their Guild Master's office.

Word quickly spread through the Guild and everyone ran out the doors to the arena throwing a sign up on the doors saying that they were all at the arena and would be back soon. Everyone was excited to see the duel between their resident Demon and Salamander. They knew that despite the ranking of the two that they were closer in power than their ranks said. Mirajane was an S-Class Mage while Natsu was still just an A-Class Mage.

Mirajane used the short time away from Natsu to ask Myou about what had happened to make him act the way he was. Myou frowned and looked down the street, unconsciously squeezing Mirajane and Kinana's hands. "Lucy said he was a bad influence and wasn't a good father."

Mirajane snapped straight up and growled to herself. "Just what the hell was she thinking saying something like that…? Don't listen to her Myou; your dad is a great man. We owe him a lot after saving us and I know he wouldn't do anything that would hurt you in any way." The young girl could only nod silently, still worried about her father.

In a matter of minutes, the entirety of the Guild, and a decent amount of people from Magnolia, filled the stands next to the arena. Master Makarov stood at the edge of the arena and looked back and forth between the two Mages. "As we do every time we have a duel, I will lay out the rules for the fight. Any type of magic is allowed, but any attempt to actively kill your opponent will result in my interference and your immediate loss. The match will end when either contestant is knocked unconscious, is unable to fight, or I deem it unnecessary to continue. Do either of you have anything to say before we begin?"

Mirajane smirked and shook her head. Natsu nodded. "I request that you do not stop the fight until I am unconscious. I'm not stupid enough to think I can win, but I won't give up until I black out." Mirajane and Makarov both frowned at his words and the emotionless mask that he wore. While Mirajane knew why he was acting this way, she didn't have to like it. Makarov just shook his head, letting it go as just Natsu being determined to give it his best.

Makarov backed away from the two and hopped off the arena, knowing to get a good distance back from the two powerhouses. "Are the contestants ready?"

"What's happening?" Erza asked as their group, after getting the story out of Lucy, showed up. It was obvious what was happening to the group of Mages, but Erza still wanted an explanation.

Myou answered them. "Daddy challenged Mirajane and she accepted. You all made it just in time to see it start." Erza nodded in understanding and folded her arms across her chest. She shoved her thoughts about what had happened between Natsu and Lucy to the back of her mind so she could focus on the fight and see exactly where her rival stood, silently urging Natsu to take her rival down.

"**Begin!**" Master Makarov shouted using his Titan Magic to project his voice. Natsu dropped into a defensive fighting stance and narrowed his eyes.

Mirajane smirked. "You are going to regret this Natsu, but don't worry… I won't hurt you too bad. **Take Over: Satan Soul… Sitri!**" A black demonic aura surrounded the woman, darkening the area around her while her form changed to reveal her in her Sitri Take-Over form. Mirajane's clothes were replaced by a geometric printed body suit with a blue and white dress coat adorned by an over-sized black collar supported by two belts which corsets her waist and a black cape. Horns grew out of the sides of her head and her hair lengthened; flaring out behind her wildly at the same time her hand grew claws. Crimson flames appeared under her feet and slowly spread around her.

Erza's eyes widened in fear, "What is she doing? Does she plan on killing him?" She whispered to no one in particular.

"Natsu asked her to go all out, specifically telling her that he wanted to face her Sitri form." Kinana answered. "She advised him against it, but he claimed he didn't care."

"Does he really think he can win against her like that? I know how strong she is; she could really hurt him by accident if she loses control…" Erza whispered, hoping for her friend to see the error of his ways and pull out of the battle.

Kinana shook her head. "He expects to lose…" The rest of her words were lost on everyone around as Mirajane threw herself into battle.

In a blur of white and crimson, Mirajane streaked across the arena towards Natsu, who still hadn't moved. Natsu didn't try to dodge out of the way and Mirajane took advantage of his lack of movement by sending a barrage of punches through his guard. Every punch was met with the sickening sound of bone hitting bone, but still Mirajane didn't relent in her attacks.

Irritated that Natsu wasn't trying to defend himself, Mirajane jumped back away from him. "**If you weren't going to fight me seriously, then why bother challenging me?**" She growled demonically, her voice dark and angry from her form. "**It's no fun to hit someone that won't fight back.**"

Natsu kept his stance up, his hands held up in front of him in a boxing form with his fists held loosely. "I'll fight back when you stop pulling your punches." He stated calmly. "I told you my condition; you come at me with everything you have. I know you're stronger than this." He had to admit that her punches hurt pretty bad, but it wasn't anything that he hadn't felt before in his previous fights. He wanted to see exactly what she was capable of and why she was holding back on him.

Mirajane sighed and shook her head. "**I told you before; I can't always control myself when I go all out. I don't want to hurt you… but if you won't fight me back unless I go all out… get ready because here I come!**" Mirajane roared out and threw herself forward, her demonic cry freezing many of the onlookers in their places.

Natsu backpedaled as she continued to slash at him, blurring from one spot to another as she swung her claws. He was having trouble seeing her attacks coming and was relying purely on instinct at this point. A tickle in the back of his head screamed for him to duck, but he was too late. Mirajane struck out with her boot and caught him in his unprotected side. He flew, whistling through the air, straight into a stone pillar across the arena.

The pillar caved in where he slammed into it, bending at an awkward angle that threatened to topple on top of him. A collective gasp spread through the crowd and Kinana was beginning to question Natsu's sanity at having his own daughter watch him get beaten up. She didn't have time to worry about it further as he slipped out of the crater onto the ground while holding his side. He had exchanged his expressionless mask for a small smile. He would have a few bruised ribs with that kick, but it wasn't enough to hold him down.

"Is that the best you have?" He taunted. "Why don't I show you what I can do?" He didn't have a plan… he never did. He wasn't smart enough to plan out his attacks; instead he went with the flow of the battle and used his instincts to guide him. "If you won't use your darkness magic yet, I won't use my fire magic." Mirajane smirked at his bravery and brought her hands up in her own style of fighting.

The distance between the two could not have been greater and Natsu knew he would have to build up some speed before he would be able to do anything to his opponent. He slammed his fist into the ground, cracking the stone slightly, before throwing himself forward in a run that quickly broke out into a sprint and he himself turned into a black and pink blur and he made a beeline for her. Mirajane didn't wait for him to reach her and threw herself forward as well, meeting him in the center of the arena. Her first attack flew past his right ear as he dipped to the left, pivoting around her right side. Her second shot wasn't as strong since she was attempting to turn and strike at the same time.

The Dragon Slayer grabbed her arm as she extended it towards him and flipped himself over her in a flip. He threw his first attack and connected with the back of her left shoulder. Mirajane countered by using the momentum of his attack to bend over at the waist on one foot, her left food striking out against him. The two forwent any defensive movements and proceeded to trade blows back and forth. Mirajane's attacks were obviously stronger than the Dragon Slayer's, but he wasn't giving up either. While she hit harder, she was draining her magical energy by holding onto her Sitri Take-Over for so long. Still moving off instinct, Natsu slapped a leg strike aside and back flipped out of the way of her follow up attack.

The two stopped for a moment, not but ten steps from one another. "**You're faster than this.**" Mirajane accused him of holding back.

This only served to make Natsu grin. He always did enjoy a good fight. "My fire makes me faster and stronger, so yes I'm holding back. But so are you, I know you could use Darkness Magic to enhance your hits. What do you say… want to see how far we can take this before one of us blacks out?"

Mirajane grinned devilishly. "**I hope you are ready to lose little Natsu. I'll show you what I am truly capable of!**" The Demon lifted one of her hands and coated it in a dark purplish energy.

Natsu stomped his right foot and dropped into another attack stance, fire racing over his skin before settling on his fists. "I won't go down easy!" He threw himself forward as well and the two threw their attacks.

"**Dark Palm!**" She stated darkly.

"**Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!**"

Both attacks collided in a large explosion, wind and dirt billowing up around the combatants. For a time, no one could see what they were doing but could hear the sounds of the two exchanging blows with one another. At the same time, both jumped away from the other and exited the cloud of dust. It settled enough to show that Natsu's vest had been ripped down the right side and he had a dark handprint on his chest while Mirajane's sleeves had been burnt off up to her shoulders where the cloth continued to smolder.

Natsu held his stance for a moment before throwing out his next attack, taking an idea directly from a previous fight with Laxus. "**Fire Bullet!**" Natsu threw a rapid amount of punches into the air, small compact balls of fire exploding from his fists as he extended his arms.

Mirajane flipped out of the way only to see that Natsu was still firing the attacks rapidly. She swiped a hand in front of her and a dark purple seal formed in the air. The fire bolts slammed into the seal and exploded with devastating power. Mirajane was thrown back and had to resort to using her flames in her feet to keep herself in the air and not slam into the ground.

"**My turn…**" Mirajane smiled and brought her hands up to her side a few inches apart. "**Demon Blast!**" Throwing her hands forward, a beam of dark energy shot rapidly across the arena.

Powering fire through his legs, Natsu darted out of the way and saw the ground explode where he stood just a moment earlier. Zigzagging around her attacks, Natsu crossed the distance to her and once again called upon his flames to launch him into the air over her. "**Fire Dragon's Axe Swing!**" Natsu flipped himself in the air as he fell towards her, his right leg extended while on fire to spin him faster to come down as an axe kick to the top of her head.

Mirajane was ready for his attack upon seeing him flying overhead and threw her own in defense to cancel his out. "**Evil Explosion!**" A black sphere met Natsu's flaming kick and for a moment they battled for dominance, only for Mirajane's attack to win out and send him flying through the air towards a pillar once again.

Natsu flipped himself over and landed with his feet on the pillar. Threading fire through his legs to absorb the bone-jarring impact Natsu shoved off as fast as he could back at her. "Let's kick it up a notch shall we? **Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Exploding Lightning Blade!**" As he called out his attack, his hands spread out to his sides, one coating in lightning while the other coated itself in fire and he faced his palms in opposite directions to release the magic and force himself into a spin that created a vortex of fire and lightning.

Mirajane smiled at seeing one of the Dragon Slayer's most powerful attacks. She couldn't help but think that his heart wasn't in the battle though as she slapped her hands together in front of her. "Bring it Natsu!" The Demon challenged. "**Soul…**" Energy gathered between her hands as she spread them apart. She raised her arms above her head as the power grew exponentially. "**Extinction!**" She threw her hands out in front of her and released the ball of demonic energy into Natsu's vortex.

Both parties roared as their attacks waged war and continuously battled for supremacy. The two attacks morphed into one another and exploded violently in a bright white light that filled the arena. The onlookers had to throw up their arms to protect themselves from the onslaught of heat and bright light. By the time the explosion and light died out an exceedingly large crater caved in the middle of the arena. Mirajane stood off to the side of the crater looking worse for wear and slumping forward as if she could barely stand, let alone hold onto her Sitri form.

Near the other side of the crater Natsu lay motionless, his skin blackened whether from his own flames or from her darkness magic was yet to be known. Makarov jumped onto the edge of the arena and raised his hand to end the match. "The match is-"

"**I'm not done yet.**" Natsu growled sitting up. He whipped his face and some of the black coloring brushed away but was quickly replaced by a trickle of blood coming from the top of his head.

"**You lost Nat**su, just end it here." Mirajane called out, her voice losing its demonic quality halfway through her declaration. Natsu only grinned in response.

"**I said I wasn't going to be done until I was unconscious. If you won't fight any longer then I'll beat you down until you give up.**" Natsu roared. Fire swirled around the Dragon Slayer as he powered himself up with as much as he could hold, a pillar of fire shooting straight up into the sky as he roared.

Mirajane, if only to protect herself from his attack, powered herself up as well. Instead of her own pillar of magic shooting off into space, the light around Mirajane died out and left her in a shadow in the middle of the arena. And it was only getting bigger, the light constantly being sucked away.

As suddenly as the fire appeared, it was gone. The force of his magical power stayed however and in another roar he threw himself forward, completely blurring from sight. The only indication that he was moving was the fire that light up under his feet along the stone.

Mirajane readied herself, throwing her hands out behind her and gathering the dark energy around her into a single attack. Natsu appeared five feet directly in front of her. Neither named their attack as they swung, but Mirajane watched as Natsu purposely released his over her right shoulder. Mirajane, not expecting this, had sent her attack directly at him in hopes of fending off his final attack. It was too late for her to alter its course and could only watch as, at the last second, Natsu released what magical energy he had saved up and his features relaxed.

Mirajane's attack exploded in a beam of dark energy, blowing away the stone, dirt, and trees in its way. It took a full thirty seconds for the attack to dissipate completely and for the light to come back into the arena. Mirajane's form disappeared as her energy ran dangerously low. Everyone looked out for any sign of Natsu, and only after a pile of rubble moved did they see him. Drawing himself up on shaky legs Natsu smiled. "It seems I'm still not enough to take you on… Thank you." He stood wavering for a second as he used the last of his energy to stand up straight and lock his muscles in an attempt to stay upright. As all energy left him, Natsu's head fell forward and he fell into unconsciousness, but his body kept upright with his locked muscles.

Master Makarov stepped up once again to the edge of what was left of the arena. "The winner… Mirajane Strauss!" A cheer rose up amongst the crowd and Mirajane let out a quiet sigh. Off to the side, Myou stood both in awe of the power that had been exposed in front of her and worry for her father that now stood unconscious after taking a direct hit from something that destroyed the terrain around them.

* * *

**Fairy Tail Guild Hall**

* * *

It only took four hours for Natsu to regain consciousness after having been moved to the infirmary of the Guild. Makarov had asked Laxus to move the young Dragon Slayer and for Wendy to heal the worst of his wounds. He opened his eyes to an empty room and blinked as he remembered how the fight had ended. He smiled to himself and forced himself to sit up despite the constant pain. He sat there and listened to the conversations in the Guild Hall.

It would seem that many were surprised that the fight had gone that far and a few were questioning just how powerful Natsu really was. One particular voice drew his attention to the point that he closed his eyes and concentrated on listening in.

"Why would you go so far to say that to him Lucy? You know that he gives his all in everything he does, why should this be any different?" It was Mirajane's voice that he heard. No longer did her voice carry the melodious and sweet tone, but a hurt and distraught tone. "I understand something happened between you two… But he is still your friend isn't he?"

Sting snorted. "Happened between them? He's lucky what happened didn't go any further. I think she should have kicked him while he was down. He deserved it."

"What is that supposed to mean? Lucy what happened?" Mirajane asked, now completely worried for their energetic Dragon Slayer and what he seemed to be becoming.

When Lucy made no move to explain herself Erza cleared her throat. "If you won't say it, I will." Her tone wasn't necessarily cold, but it was different. Not quite as warm and confident as it usually was.

Lucy looked down at her hands, now completely at odds with herself about whether she had done the right thing two months ago when they had had a falling out. "No… I'll tell her."

* * *

**[Flashback] Two Months Prior [Flashback]**

* * *

Natsu groaned in his stool and looked around the Guild. Happy sat down next to him at the bar, eating a fish for breakfast… again. "If you keep sighing like that, people are going to start thinking you're depressed."

Natsu groaned again and let his head fall back to stare at the ceiling. "It's been two days since Lucy left for… whatever that town was called… She said she would be back by now so we could go out on a job. I'm bored!"

As if sensing her name, Lucy stepped into the Guild with her best friend Levy, chatting idly about her novel. Natsu instantly perked up and jumped off the stool. "Luce! You're back!" He cried out happily.

Lucy gave Levy an apologetic smile and promised to talk to her later. "What do you want Natsu?" She asked in an irritated tone.

Natsu was taken aback by her tone. "What do you mean? We were supposed to go on a job today."

Lucy grimaced and folded her arms over her chest. "Let's just get this over with."

Natsu cocked his head at the side, but shrugged it off and ran over to the job board, looking through the fliers before holding one out to her. "What about this one?"

"Fighting bandits again? No thanks." She groaned. "That's more your thing than mine. I usually just end up standing back and waiting for you to finish it."

Natsu hummed and put the flier back. In a few seconds he had another one. "This one is worth a lot! Why don't we take it?" He suggested happily.

Lucy scoffed and looked at the amount. "We would be lucky if we got a third of this amount… you always destroy something and get our pay cut."

Natsu waved the issue off. "Whatever, if you need money you can just take my part. I don't have to pay rent anyways so I only need money for food and we usually go catch our own fish, so we don't need it right now."

"I don't need rent money anymore."

"Huh?" Natsu looked away from the job board and gave her a questioning look.

"I already got enough money for my rent for a few months while I was gone."

"How did you do that?"

"I went on jobs with my boyfriend. He doesn't break anything when we work so I can keep all the reward. You have no idea how easy it is to save when you don't have to pay for damages!" She said excitedly.

"You went on missions without me?" Natsu sounded hurt.

"Uh yeah? Didn't you hear me? I did them with my boyfriend."

"But WE are partners, Luce. What about Happy and me?"

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "So, what… still haven't found a replacement for me yet?"

Natsu recoiled. "No one can replace you Luce, you're you… You're my partner! My best friend!" He threw his arms up in the air to emphasize his point.

Lucy sighed and folded her arms across her chest. "Then what about Lisanna? I thought she was your best friend?"

"Well…" Natsu started. "She was… until she died… I mean disappeared... then I met you. Now that she is back, she can once again be my best friend."

"So I was just her replacement until she came back." Lucy didn't ask him, she was telling him what she saw.

Natsu immediately took a step back from her. "No one can replace Lisanna. She's…. Lisanna…"

"Like I said, you don't need me." Lucy deadpanned.

Natsu shook his head rapidly. "Of course I need you! You're my best friend!"

"You just said Lisanna was your best friend."

"You both are!" Natsu exclaimed.

"You can't have two best friends, and besides, with Lisanna back you can spend all your time with her."

"What about you? We still have missions and adventures to go on!" Natsu scrunched his eyebrows together as he tried to figure out where she was going with this. It wasn't working, thinking hurt and this time was no different.

"Like I said, you can't have two best friends. If you have her as a best friend, then you don't need me. Like you said, I can't be a replacement for her. You obviously just wanted me around to fill the void."

"What brought this on? Luce no one can take your place either. You're my partner!"

"No, I was your partner." Natsu opened his mouth but no words came out, his expression changing from confused to hurt. Lucy continued, her tone growing irritated. "He explained everything to me and I can't believe how stupid I was that I couldn't see what you were doing. How stupid I was to not see how you were just using me."

"What the hell Luce!" Natsu had found his voice. "I never USED you for ANYTHING! Who is telling you all of this? Who do they think they are trying to take you from me!"

Lucy spun on her heal and started out of the Guild. "Whatever Natsu. You don't own me and you obviously don't care what I do unless it's not with you. Just leave me alone. Find someone else to fill your void."

Natsu stood stunned by what had just happened, thoroughly confused.

* * *

**[End Flashback] Present Time [End Flashback]**

* * *

Natsu's throat seized up hearing her say it like that. He had tried time and time again to prove to her that she wasn't just something to fill a void. There hadn't been a void for her to fill, she had just stolen a piece of him and he had willingly given it to her. No, he didn't have any romantic feelings for her, but nonetheless he never wanted to be without her. She was his best friend, but she was more than that. He could go as far to say as she was like family to him.

"And, not to be rude to you Myou, but he did replace me. With you." Lucy said in a near whisper while looking down at her hands.

"How could you say something like that?" Myou asked the blonde painfully. Lucy looked up at her and flinched at the pain that she saw in the young girl, when she was about to say something Myou cut her off. "Just because someone told you that he used you, does that mean it has to be true?"

"Of course it doesn't. I would have been stupid to just believe Sting if he only wanted to hurt Natsu. No, he showed me proof that I was being used." Lucy said folding her arms across her chest. She knew she had hurt Natsu with her sudden change of mind, but she had been hurt too to find out that he had used her as a replacement.

"What proof did he show you?" Mirajane asked curiously with a hint of disbelief.

Lucy brought up a hand in front of her and counted off her fingers. "He ruined every one of my dates so I couldn't be with anyone else." She lowered a finger. "He always had to go on missions with me. The one time he asked me to go somewhere with me was just so he could use my spirits to help him dig for treasure then had the nerve to be surprised when I didn't want to help him. When Lisanna finally came back from Edolas, he practically ignored me for a month until I made him pay attention to me!" She finally stopped, clenching her fist at her side.

Mirajane was floored. Here was the one girl that had been given another chance by her own love interest, bad mouthing him, and she still wanted to help the blonde realize how stupid she had been. "You're mad that he wanted to spend time with a friend that he had thought was dead for over two years?"

"That's not the point! He didn't have to pretend like I didn't even exist!" Lucy shouted back.

Mirajane clenched her hands at her sides and forced herself to take deep breaths. However, each breath only made her madder and it got to the point that she could feel her fingernails digging half-moon cuts into her palms. "He spoke about you nearly the entire time, about your adventures and how such a good person you were…" Lisanna admitted quietly. Lucy scoffed at the thought, thinking he was just trying to cover his tracks now that Lisanna was back.

Luckily, Myou decided to step in. "If he was using you then why does he flinch every time he sees you?"

"It's guilt he feels, that's all. He feels guilty that I found out. He's using you too."

"Does that mean I'm not allowed to be happy?" Myou asked sadly.

"I never said that, but I don't want you to get hurt by falling into the same trap that I did." Lucy reasoned.

"Do you know what situation Natsu saved me from?" Lucy stared at the young girl, but shook her head. "He saved me from myself. He showed me that it isn't wrong to be who I am, that I shouldn't try to change myself or hide things that others don't like." Myou hugged her arms around herself, but felt a pair of arms pull her into a gentle hug. Out of the corner of her eye she saw white hair with a blue streak and knew it was Lisanna that had pulled her in.

"How long did you know Sting before he told you those things about Natsu?" Myou asked quietly.

"About two…. Maybe three months. What does that have to do with anything?" Lucy asked confused.

"How long did you know Natsu before that, not including the seven years you were gone?"

"Ummm… I don't see where this is going, but almost two years."

"Knowing all of that, being around him all that time…" Lisanna asked, tightening her hold around Myou. "All it took was for someone you barely knew to make him look bad and you jumped ship…"

"Do you expect me to sit here and have all of you gang up on me when it isn't your problem? What happened between me and Natsu is between us." Lucy snapped.

"You made it our problem when you tried to hurt Myou." Mirajane said with a glare. "Back on topic, how many times did Natsu sacrifice his own wellbeing for you?"

"Does that matter? He would do that for anyone." Lucy crossed her arms.

"How many times?" Mirajane bit out each word.

"I don't know! Too many to count!" Lucy cried out with a glare.

"Idiot. Not once did he hold it over your head that he had saved you, or that you owed him anything for it. He was just happy to see you safe." Mirajane spat with a glare of her own.

"I find it hard to believe that you can hold that large of a piece of his heart and be so heartless yourself. He was willing to die for you and yet you still say he cared nothing for you?" Myou asked with tears in her eyes, yet she refused to actually let the tears fall. She was too angry to allow that.

"You can't talk to me like that! Where is your respect?"

"You don't deserve any respect for hurting my Dad! You bit-"

"That's enough, Myou." Natsu said quietly, but his voice was easily heard over the dull roar of the Guild. Myou spun in her seat to see her father standing there with bandages covering his chest and forearms, a small bandage under his left eye. "I told you not to antagonize them."

"But!"

"Stop." His voice was low and calm, but held the authority of someone that could back up their words. "I didn't force her to think like this and she won't listen to me about changing her mind. I don't hold any grudges against her or Sting for what happened, so leave it be." Myou opened her mouth to retort again but his piercing gaze stopped her in her tracks. He turned his gaze to Lucy and lowered his gaze to the ground in front of her, unable to meet her eyes. "I am sorry for what Myou has said. It will not happen again." He gestured for Myou to come over to him and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Lucy was at a loss for words. After the spectacle they had seen at the arena, she had expected him to be furious with her. Unable to speak, she shook her head.

Natsu turned to see Kinana behind the counter again, after moving down the bar a ways away from the small grouping of Mages, called her over. He ordered a couple of plates of food for him and Myou. He looked over at Mirajane and gave her a small smile. "Thanks for helping me blow off some steam and show Myou what we are capable of."

Mirajane wanted to bring up the fact that he had purposely deviated his attack from her and had taken hers head on but nodded, planning on taking it up with him later when no one else was around. "As long as you remember our deal." Natsu nodded in return and went back to looking at the counter in front of him.

When Kinana brought their food out, Natsu asked for a small pad of paper and a pencil. He explained to Myou that he wanted to get started on her training as soon as possible so he could take her on jobs with him so he wouldn't have to leave her at the Guild while he went and made them money. She seemed overly excited about the idea of training and threw herself at him with her ideas and everything that she could think of.

Unbeknownst to him, Natsu had two pairs of eyes watching him curiously from the other side of the Guild. "Maybe we don't need Sting anymore…" Minerva whispered to herself. "Maybe we can… offer up a trade." The woman sitting next to her, while not wanting to let Sting go from their Guild Master, found herself thinking about the idea. Judging by the strength he held, and the fact that he had purposely taken the last attack without defending himself, he was a prime candidate for a replacement if it came down to it.

* * *

**As always, R&R please!**

**Okay, I know it has been a while, but in my defense I didn't know how to end this chapter so I had to make it a bit longer than usual… okay a lot longer than usual. Also, wasn't sure if the whole situation with Lucy and Natsu worked out right, but it's out there now so I'll have to deal with it.**

**Yes I added Erza to the possible women he can end up with, it was demanded of me through several, and I mean 9 private messages. Considering I'm averaging 3-5 reviews a chapter, I take that as a majority vote for her to be included. No she doesn't just win because you asked. We haven't started the vote just yet. Soon, but not yet.**


	8. Training and Friends

**Wow, what an amazing response! Before I start, I want to take a moment to address some of the reviews that my readers have given me. Hopefully this will answer some questions…**

Nico2883: **I'm sorry but I can't read half of your review… But, from what I can read, I agree that Natsu does not deserve the reaction that Lucy has given him over Sting's words. I hate to admit it, but I don't know whether or not Natsu will completely forgive her. That is if I let her come to her senses (evil chuckle).**

GhostOfOnyx, gratsulover117: **To answer both of your questions, yes it is a possibility that Natsu could end up leaving Fairy Tail for Sabertooth. Honestly though? Something really drastic would have to happen for him to give up on the rest of his friends, even if it was for a woman. I don't see Natsu as the type of person to sacrifice others' happiness for his own, no matter how much it hurt him in the long run. However, everything depends on how his interactions with everyone progresses from here on out.**

Deathwatch 45: **Okay, I hate to say this, but I didn't want to incorporate Natsu's lightning-flame dragon mode that much because I see Natsu as someone that always holds back against his friends. No matter what he feels, I see him consciously attempting to hold back so he won't hurt anyone, either intentionally or unintentionally.**

ValinNight: **Thank you for being a constant reviewer, its people like you (and a few others) that keep me going with these stories. You can expect… well I guess you can't expect what will happen when Minerva tries to enter the scene… She's kind of a wildcard…**

Domis Basool: **I understand what you are saying about who he should end up with, but please don't make your mind up just yet! He still has to develop an actual relationship with all of the girls before anything can come from it. Also, yes Sting has ulterior motives behind taking Lucy from Natsu and twisting her mind. More to come on that in every chapter. He isn't just trying to ruin Natsu's life; he's trying to do more than that.**

Valimesh: **I'm glad you liked it; I was having trouble deciding on whether or not that was enough of an explanation. I will explain more why she thinks this way soon.**

Prototype4260, AntiNalu34575, treeofsakuras: **I'm not even going to touch on these reviews. All of these questions will be answered in this chapter. Why did he hold back, how strong is he really, and what is going to happen between Natsu and Lucy. All will be answered in the chapter!**

Myrolerian: **You are the first to say that, and I deeply appreciate you coming out and pointing this out. Yes Myou was a little too mature for someone her age. By the time you read this, go back and reread the confrontation between her and Lucy. I'll have fixed it. If you see anything else that doesn't quite fit how the characters or story should be flowing point it out! I'm still learning and I need these tips and revelations on what I messed up on!**

**Without further ado, here we go!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Training and Friends.**

* * *

The sun had barely crested the horizon when three figures found themselves on the streets of Magnolia headed towards Fairy Tail's main building. Though it was no longer her job, Mirajane felt it was necessary to be the first one there in the mornings to open the doors and place the mission fliers on the mission boards before starting with her own training. She looked down to her left at the little girl that she had been watching for the past two days.

Myou, as if sensing the eldest Strauss sibling looking at her, turned up to her right and grinned at the woman. "Do you think he will be back today?" She asked excitedly. Two days prior, Natsu had left her with the Strauss siblings after he had been asked to join Wendy and Erza on Wendy's first mission as an S-Class Mage.

Mirajane smiled happily down at the eight year old girl. "I think we can expect them to return somewhere around the early afternoon, maybe just before dinner at the latest." She responded with a curt nod. She herself had been hoping to cash in on her prize from her fight with Natsu.

Myou bounced happily with each step and hummed in excitement. "Maybe when he gets back we can finally start my training like he promised." She chirped excitedly. They hadn't had a chance to actually start anything; merely biding their time while he healed, then he had gone out on the mission to get a little money.

"He'll be back before you know it." Lisanna said squeezing her Myou's other hand. "From what he's told me, he is trying to save up as much money as possible to make a big purchase."

"A big purchase?" Myou inquired, losing some of her excitement for curiosity. "What does he want to buy?" She quickly went through all of the possibilities in her head; they already had a house, furniture, more clothes than she had ever thought she would own for herself, and she knew you couldn't buy more family members so that ruled out that possibility.

Lisanna merely smiled and shook her head. "Sorry couldn't tell you even if I wanted to, he is playing this one real close to his chest. Your best guess is as good as mine; I find it hard to know what is going through his head these days." Looking down at Myou, Lisanna noticed her slight frown and shrugged her shoulders. "It's hard to describe… He used to be so easy to read, always wearing his emotions on his sleeve for everyone to see but lately it seems like he is holding something back. Who knows, maybe I'm just being paranoid."

Myou nodded at that. She had seen her adoptive father acting reserved around the Guild. It wasn't that he didn't interact with everyone because he always did, he was loud and energetic as usual, but there was always something hidden. She knew that when they left the Guild that his smile would always change. "We can't have that. We'll just have to figure out what is holding him back so much."

Mirajane looked over at the two as they neared the Guild. "What do you have planned?" If she had come to notice something about the newest addition to Fairy Tail, it was that the girl could come up with a plan in a moment's notice.

Myou grinned and gave Mirajane a knowing smile. "Well if we want him to actually open up and tell us what is wrong, then we have to make him understand that he can open up to us. I know he won't want to tell me that anything is wrong because he doesn't want me to worry, but we should be able to get him to open up to you. Maybe on your date."

"DATE!" Lisanna cried out suddenly, jerking them all to a stop. "What do you mean date? I thought he wasn't interested in dating just yet."

Mirajane had the decency to blush and stutter for a moment. "W-well… when he said he wanted to fight me, I gave him a condition that I wanted to spend more time with Myou and him to get to know her better. Myou suggested it to be a date and wouldn't let him say no."

Lisanna scrunched her nose and glared coolly at her sister. "You said you wouldn't cheat." She turned to look down at Myou while holding her glare. "If she gets one, I want one too." She said with resounding finality.

Myou smiled brightly, not affected by Lisanna's glare in the least. "You do realize that you are signing yourself up to date a guy that is already dating someone else besides your sister right?"

"Who would that be?" Mirajane asked, not knowing that he already had been dating someone.

"Okay, he may not be dating her, but he did take me out to lunch with her. I may have conned him into that one too." Myou admitted.

That had Lisanna worried. "Just be careful. As long as I've known him, Natsu hasn't gone on any real dates and I don't want him to get hurt…." The youngest Strauss sighed and let go of Myou's hand as they reached the Guild, pulled out a key from the small pocket in her skirt, and opened the doors. "Why are you even doing this? Wouldn't it be better for him to find one girl that has feelings for him and if that didn't work, try with another girl?"

Mirajane ushered the girl into the Guild and followed after her. "Not just that, but if he doesn't understand what's going on he might end up hurting someone that he cares for by leading them on." Mirajane couldn't help but think back to her discussion she had with Gajeel and Gray about them telling Natsu about certain delicate situations. '_Note to self, make sure Gajeel kept his word…_' She thought to herself with a nod.

"Well, we won't know how he feels if we don't force him into these situations now will we?" Myou reasoned with a gesture of her hand. "Besides, I know he cares about all of you; I just don't know exactly what he feels. Other than that I just want him to be happy, and if that means getting people to look at him in a new light, then that's what I'll do. You never know, whenever he finds what he wants I may just get a mom too."

It dawned on the two sisters what the actual goal was. The two shared a look and found that they couldn't exactly be mad at the situation, it wasn't ideal, but it did give them a chance to see exactly where they stood in the Dragon Slayer's heart.

"Enough about that, go and get washed up and I'll make us something to eat while we wait for the others." Mirajane said clapping her hands together. Myou darted off to the back of the Guild towards the restroom and Mirajane turned to Lisanna when she was out of sight. "You find out who this other girl is and I'll make sure we all get together to set a few ground rules. I don't think either of us wants to lose our chance if the other pulls a dirty trick and forces him to choose too soon." Lisanna nodded and went behind the counter to look through the new missions that had come in during the night.

* * *

**Two Hours Later**

* * *

Mirajane sighed and cast a quick look around the main room of the Guild. '_Just where did that little devil go?_' She thought to herself. The Take-Over Mage ran a hand through her hair when she found Myou nowhere in sight, again. She wasn't worried about the girl getting hurt, far from it. However, she felt the need to worry whenever the girl disappeared because whenever she did someone would up getting pranked or she would return completely exhausted and covered in sweat and dirt.

"Asuka?" Mirajane turned to see Bisca walking around the Guild in much the same fashion that Mirajane herself was. "Just where does she keep disappearing to?" Bisca muttered under her breath. The Gun Mage turned to see Mirajane. "Myou missing too?" She asked already knowing the answer.

Mirajane frowned and furrowed her brow. "I don't know how those two can manage to just leave like that." The ivory haired Mage walked up to Team Shadow Gear, plus Gajeel, "Have any of you seen Myou or Asuka?" Levy, Jet, and Droy exchanged looks and shook their heads together. "Ugh, how can an entire Guild of Mages manage to lose two kids?" Mirajane asked herself as she started off to search elsewhere.

"They're out back." Gajeel said plainly.

Mirajane spun around. "What was that?" She asked dangerously.

Gajeel grinned and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "Those two have been out back for the past hour, don't tell me you didn't look."

"Of course I looked! If you knew where they were, why did you just watch me run around looking for them?"

"Gehe, because it's fun to see you flustered. It's almost like you're a mother."

Mirajane blushed at the concept, her mind running wild with possible scenarios. '_If I do become a mother, I want to have one of my own. But, Myou is so cute that I'd have to officially adopt her alongside Natsu and then we could give her a little baby sister or brother or…_' She had to physically shake her head to get the thoughts out of her head. She wasn't in an actual relationship with Natsu yet so she couldn't start thinking like that or she might scare him off before they even had a chance to even start. She glared at Gajeel for a moment and rushed out the back door, grabbing Bisca along the way telling her that she knew where the kids were.

Out the back door they could tell that no one was back there. After a few seconds they heard a faint voice off in the distance. "Seventeen… eighteen… nineteen… one more come on… twenty!" Clearly Myou's voice. The two Mages shared a quizzical look and slowly made their way towards where the voice was coming from.

"Your turn…" Asuka's voice this time. "Remind… me again… why we are… doing this?" She asked between labored breathes.

Mirajane and Bisca hid behind a couple of trees and peaked out to see both of the girls breathing heavily, Asuka sitting at the base of a tree while Myou knelt on the ground on her hands and knees. "Because we won't get any stronger if we don't train ourselves." Myou pushed herself up so that she was on just her toes and the palms of her hands before descending into a push up, her arms shaking in how much effort she was exerting to control her descent.

Mirajane and Bisca looked on in shock as the two girls worked together to alternate between one another, each completing an exercise while the other rested. They worked through basic exercises to increase their muscles; pushups, sit ups, lunges, and a few other simple exercises.

"Last one, right?" Asuka asked, nearly pleading considering how her body shook like a leaf from the lack of energy.

Myou nodded weakly, equally as tired as her friend. "How many times do you think we should do it this time? We only managed five yesterday."

Asuka sucked in a deep breath to calm herself as much as possible. "Well, five yesterday… we have to show some sort of improvement… so at least six?" She suggested. Myou thought for a second but nodded in consent and the two shot off in a sprint. Mirajane and Bisca quickly slipped around the trees as the two young girls shot by towards the Guild, knowing full well that if the two girls hadn't been so tired they would have seen them hiding behind the trees.

The two women quietly followed to two girls and watched them run around the outer edges of the Guild at a complete sprint, moving as fast as their legs would take them. The two could distinctively remember how the two had become quick friends after their first meeting.

By the time Myou and Asuka finished their run around the Guild they all but collapsed against the back wall. In a matter of seconds, the both of them had fallen asleep while leaning on the other to stay upright. The two older Mages crept out of their hiding places and went inside, leaving the two girls to rest.

"Where do you think this came from?" Bisca asked as the two of them set up a small tray of snacks. "Asuka has never shown any urge to train to be a Mage before. I mean, I know that one day she might come around to be like her father and I, but she hasn't actually tried anything yet."

Mirajane cut up a couple of apples and placed the wedges down on the tray. "I can only imagine it has something to do with Myou's desire to learn how to control her powers." The two continued to chat idly about what to take of the situation, only quieting when they went to leave the tray of snacks and drinks by the girls for when they woke up.

* * *

**Sunset at Fairy Tail**

* * *

The front doors of the Guild slammed open. "We're back!" Natsu called out loudly. "Myou I'm-" Natsu cut off when a blur of black hair slammed into his stomach. He was pretty unprepared for her sudden attack and fell back through the doors. He could only laugh as he hugged the girl to himself.

"Took you long enough!" Myou cried out happily.

Natsu continued to chuckle to himself, but kept her in his arms while he stood up. It was then that he got a good look at her. "You look like you rolled around in the dirt the entire time I was gone."

Myou pouted and glared at him. "Shut up." She grumbled under her breath. "Why are you back so late anyways?"

Natsu held Myou in one arm while he turned around and picked up the unconscious body that he had been carrying before she had tackled him. The Dragon Slayer tossed Millianna over his other shoulder and walked into the Guild with Erza and Wendy close behind them. "We ran into a friend on our way back from the mission and… well let's just say Erza still doesn't like to be surprised."

Myou looked over Natsu's shoulder to see Erza blush and look down at the ground. "Oh, now I'm interested. What exactly happened?"

* * *

**[Flashback]**

* * *

_Natsu groaned and stretched his back, several of loud pops sounding out to indicate how tight his muscles and joints were. "How much longer till the train gets here?" He complained leaning back in his seat on the bench._

_"I know you're anxious to get back, but you should really use this time to relax. Myou is going to run you ragged when you get back." Wendy said with a slight sigh. She was excited for her fellow Dragon Slayer and his happiness, but it was just about all he would talk about._

_"That reminds me, I was meaning to ask you if you would help me train Myou to fight. She strikes me more as someone that shouldn't take a hit." Natsu asked with a small smile._

_"Are you saying women aren't capable of taking as much pain as women?" Erza growled out._

_"Where did you get that from?" Natsu asked backing away from her as far as he could go in his seat. "I'm just saying that she should probably fight from a distance and dodge attacks rather than take them." He held his hands up in front of him trying to plead his case._

_Before Erza could retort, a cloaked figure wrapped her arm around Natsu's neck from behind him and brought a small blade up to his neck. "So women are weaker than men are they? Maybe I should show you how weak men really are." The woman purred into his ear._

_Natsu sighed and dropped his arms by his sides, making no attempt to protect himself. "You know that isn't what I meant." The next thing Natsu saw was a large metal fist blurring past his face followed by a cry of pain. "Erza wait!" The arms holding him fell limp and Natsu couldn't help but groan again. "What did you do that for? She wasn't going to hurt me!"_

_"Wasn't going to hurt you? She held a knife to your neck!" Erza roared back at him, pointing at the cloaked woman lying on the ground._

_Natsu pushed her back a couple of steps so he could stand up, moved over to the downed woman and pulled her hood of. "It's Millianna; she wouldn't hurt us even if she had to." Erza frowned and folded her arms across her chest yet still had the decency to look ashamed. "Well whatever, we'll just have to take her back with us until she wakes up. I'm not going to leave her here when some stranger could walk off with her while she is unconscious."_

_The Dragon Slayer threw the downed Mage over his shoulder and went over to the counter to purchase another train ticket. "We'll just have to hope she isn't too mad when she wakes up"._

* * *

**[End Flashback]**

* * *

Myou giggled and pulled away from Natsu to lead him over to the bar. "Mira, Daddy came back." She called over excitedly. "And he brought a friend."

Mirajane turned in her seat and smiled over at Natsu and Myou as they walked over to her. "I can see that. So is this the other girl you were talking about earlier, Myou?" The young girl nodded enthusiastically.

"Other girl?" Natsu asked propping Millianna up on one of the chairs, the Mage's limp body lying face first on the bar-top.

"Well if I'm going to date you then I think I deserve to know who else you are dating." Mirajane said with a seductive smile. "A girl has to know who her competition is."

Natsu cocked his head to the side questioningly. "Who said I was dating Millianna?" It was Mirajane's turn to look confused, though she pointed down at Myou. Natsu sighed. "I'm not dating her Mira."

Myou hit him in the shoulder feebly. "You took her on a lunch date, and that means you're dating."

Natsu rolled his eyes. "It isn't like that. She didn't know it was a date until I said something. You tricked her and me into it. You never asked her if she wanted to date me. I gave her the option and she said she needed a while to figure things out. It's up to her now if she wants to pursue anything more."

"So I get you all to myself." Mirajane chirped and smiled, but her smile faltered suddenly. "Well… now that you mention it, you do have another date besides me." Natsu narrowed his eyes. "Don't look at me that way. Any number of guys would be happy to be in your situation. To be dating both of the Strauss sisters… You should feel honored."

"I never said I was dating you either Mira. It's _a_ date. You never know… you might have a terrible time and not want anything to do with me after that."

Mirajane barked a sharp laugh and smiled devilishly down at the Dragon Slayer sitting down in front of her. "Oh no you don't, you aren't getting away that easy." She snapped her fingers and narrowed her eyes, her demeanor turning serious suddenly. "You never did answer me on why you threw the fight. I expect an answer."

Natsu shrugged his shoulders and pulled Myou into his lap. "My aim was bad. My emotions got the best of me and I missed."

Mirajane sighed and put her hands on her hips. "In the entire time that I have known you, you have never missed. Especially when you are emotional, you get stronger whenever you let your emotions run wild."

Natsu grinned up at her. "Aren't you selling yourself short? You were claiming you were going to wipe the floor with me. You are an S-Class mage after all. I don't hold a candle to someone of your stature."

Mirajane scoffed at his comment and glared at the Dragon Slayer. "So says the man that brought an end to the Dragon King's War when we thought all hope was lost."

Natsu sighed and shook his head. "So says the man who couldn't stop all of you from dying. If it wasn't for Ultear, a lot of us wouldn't be alive today."

"What is this really all about Natsu? You have never been one to sell yourself short." Mirajane was starting to get worried about the Dragon Slayer.

Without missing a beat Natsu grinned and hugged his arms around Myou. "Maybe I didn't want to hurt my little girl's possible future mother." That drew a stutter and bright blush from the eldest Strauss. "Really though, you are looking too far into this. I knew I was getting to emotional about what happened and I had to stop myself before I made a mistake that I would regret. I was too far into my own self-pity that I wasn't thinking straight until the last moment."

Myou leaned back into her father's grasp and frowned. She knew how hard it hit him whenever Lucy would twist the knife, but she didn't know it lingered. She had thought he had found an outlet for his feelings. Other than that she could tell, despite the smile he was showing, that he was uncomfortable with talking about how he felt about the whole situation. "It's almost time for dinner; do you think we could go home?" She asked.

Natsu grinned genuinely down at his adopted daughter and nodded. "That sounds great; I've been itching for a home cooked meal for the past couple of days." He put Myou on her feet next to him and pushed off the chair, throwing the still unconscious Millianna over his shoulder at the same time. "Hey Mira, why don't you come over in a little while and have dinner with us? You can think of it as a thank you for watching Myou for the past couple of days."

Mirajane smiled happily and clasped her hands together in front of her. "I'd love to. I'll just finish up here and come on over when I get a chance."

"Lisanna!" Natsu called out over the loud Guild, the woman in question perking up and coming over to the four of them. "I'm making dinner tonight, why don't you come over in… say a half hour?"

Lisanna smiled excitedly and nodded her head in acceptance. With that said and done, Natsu ushered Myou out the front door towards their home. He stopped when Lucy stepped in front of them. "Natsu…" She said in a near whisper. "I think I should apologize about what I said the other day. I may not agree with what happened between us, but that doesn't give me the right to try and pull you and Myou apart."

Natsu gave a weak smile and nodded. "It isn't me that you should apologize to, but still… apology accepted. Whatever you feel happened between you and me…" His voice died out for a moment and he had to take a slow breath. "I know you don't care, but I mean what I said, you will always be my best friend, no matter what you say. That being said, I hope Sting is good to you because if he hurts you, I'll hunt him down. Even if you don't want me to." Myou pulled on his sleeve, gesturing for them to head out. "sorry, I'm rambling again… Have a good night Lucy, I gotta get Millianna to lie down back at the place and get dinner started for Myou."

That sparked anger in Lucy suddenly though she didn't know where it was coming from. "You expect us to just let you take an unconscious girl back to your house out in the woods?"

Sting stepped up behind Lucy and grinned. "Who knows what you would do to her when you got her alone."

Myou stepped forward angrily and Natsu grabbed her shoulder. "Don't test me Sting." He growled out. "If it wasn't for Lucy, I would have sent you packing back to your Guild when they came looking for your sorry ass."

Sting stepped forward, reaching out to grab Natsu. Natsu smiled evilly and the three disappeared in a spiral of fire. The Light Dragon Slayer's hand passed through thin air and he stood there stunned with his arm outstretched. "When the hell did he learn that?"

* * *

**Natsu's House**

* * *

It took two more casts of the spell, but Natsu, Myou, and Millianna came to a stop at the small house. Myou was speechless, but caught herself when Natsu ushered her inside and shut the door behind them. She quickly ran off to her room to get a change of clothes before locking herself in the bathroom to get cleaned up.

Natsu could only smile at how perfect Myou was. He knew he could not ask for a better child. But, he couldn't think about that for now with Millianna hanging over his shoulder. "You don't have to pretend you're still out."He said casually before setting her down on his couch.

Millianna peaked through one of her closed eyes and smiled sheepishly. "Was it really that obvious?"

Natsu shook his head. "I didn't realize it until the second jump. When did you wake up?"

Millianna reached her hands high in the air to stretch. "Just before the first one I think, but I didn't want to interrupt your… discussion with Lucy. I take it Wendy healed me?"

"Yeah, she thought it best to get rid of your bruise while she could so you wouldn't be so mad at Erza when you woke up." He said with a laugh, taking off his jacket and hanging it up on the back of the front door leaving him in a tight black shirt. "You're staying for dinner right?" He offered stepping into the kitchen.

"I don't mean to intrude…"

"I wouldn't have brought you here if you were." He retorted, raising his voice to call to her from the other room. "Besides, Myou would be happy to see you up and about." Sounds of the shower turning on indicated where the girl in question was.

Millianna nodded to herself and walked into the kitchen. "Why don't I give you a hand? We can talk while we cook." Natsu nodded with a smile and gestured to a cutting board with freshly washed vegetables and a knife. Millianna took the hint and started cutting them up. "What are we making?"

"Curry." Natsu said going about his business to get the rest of dinner ready. "Why were you even in town in the first place?"

Millianna sighed and turned towards Natsu, still cutting the vegetables. "You know my Guild is located there right?" She said as if it was common knowledge.

Natsu laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Umm… well no. I can't say I did. I feel kind of stupid bringing you all the way here now."

Millianna waved off his embarrassment. "Don't be, I was coming to see you guys anyways." At Natsu's questioning gaze she shook her head. "We can talk about that later, I'd rather Myou be a part of that conversation if you don't mind."

Natsu was beyond curious about what she had decided but nodded all the same. The two continued on in a pleasant silence while they cooked and once Myou came out of the shower, Natsu asked her to set the table for the five of them. Before Millianna could question it, Natsu explained that Mirajane and Lisanna were going to be joining them as thanks for watching Myou while he was out on a mission.

It wasn't long before a knock at the door got everyone's attention. "It's open!" Natsu called out. Lisanna and Mirajane came into the house. Natsu peaked around the corner and smiled. "Millianna woke up too, so the four of you can relax while I finish up here."

The two sisters nodded and drug Millianna and Myou over to the couch.

Not a half hour later Natsu brought out a large pot of curry and another pot of rice. When they all settled down he found that the three women each had a cup of sake and weren't taking it easy. As they all sat down to eat he could tell that he wasn't going to like the conversation that was about to take place. Myou took a seat to the right of Natsu while Millianna sat to his left and the Strauss sisters sat down across from him. Everyone took their plates from the stack and dished themselves some food.

Natsu slid a cup of tea over to Myou and took one for himself. "Did you find anything out about Myou's powers while I was away?" Natsu asked in an attempt to stave off the impending conversation as much as possible.

"We tried everything you suggested without her knowing, but we couldn't recreate the effects." Mirajane answered, a slight slur to her words that got him wondering just how much she had to drink already.

Myou furrowed her brows and glared up at her father. "What do you mean, Daddy?" Natsu flinched at the obvious irritation in her voice. "What were you trying to recreate?"

Natsu chuckled nervously. "Remember when we were running from Erza and the others?" Myou nodded so he continued. "You unconsciously blocked Erza's punch when she tried to attack us. I've asked Mira and Lisanna to try and recreate similar attempts by throwing little things at you, nothing that could hurt you, but large enough that you could see it coming."

"Yet we couldn't get anything to happen. From what I gather, it's not that she can use it unconsciously to protect herself, but she can use it to protect others. At least until she masters it that is." Mirajane offered as she explained her thoughts.

Natsu nodded. "That's why I asked them to do it without your knowledge. It'll give us a better baseline when we start your training."

Myou frowned for a few moments while she thought about it the best that she could and smiled at what she reasoned. "I understand that, at least now we know where to start."

Millianna smiled and looked at the interaction between the two newly appointed father and daughter, happy to see that their interactions. "What kind of magic do you have, Myou?"

"Some kind of telekinetic powers." Myou said with a large grin. "I don't know what I can do with them yet, but I know I can lift objects with my will and… at least from what Daddy says, I can make a wall of energy to block attacks."

"That's… that's impressive, Myou. I have seen a lot of magic out there, but I can't say I've met any that can manipulate any object around them at will." Millianna commented excitedly, thinking of all the possibilities this would lead to.

"I can't do anything on purpose yet, but someday I'll master my powers and I'll get strong. I'll be the strongest Mage alive!" Myou thrust a fist in the air with a cheer.

This brought a round of laughter from all present and they happily went about eating what they had on the plates in front of them. Finally, Millianna spoke up. "So, you haven't asked what I decided on."

Natsu stared down at his plate and sighed. "Well… It's a little more complicated than it was when I first asked."

"Oh, don't I know it." Millianna grinned like a fox. "Big Bad Dragon Slayer thought he'd try and get a few girls under his wing."

Natsu paled and brought his hands up in front of him. "No no no, I swear it isn't like that!" He cried out pleading his case. "You see… well… they…" Try as hard as he could, he couldn't get the words to come.

"Don't be like that Natsu, you can tell her. You made a bet and lost so now you have to take me out on a date, and to be fair you have to go on a date with Lisanna because she deserves the same chances that I do." Mirajane said with a sly grin.

"I swear Millianna, I wasn't planning this!" He cried out in defense, waiting for her to start pummeling him into the ground.

"There is nothing wrong with a little competition." Millianna continued to grin, her eyes never leaving Natsu's black diamonds. "Don't get comfortable though. Even though I'm willing to enter a little competition, I don't know how I feel about-"

"Hold it right there!" Natsu said slamming his hands down on the table, his eyes hardening. "Do not finish that sentence. It's not going to happen so get it out of your mind. As far as these dates go, I promised Mira one and while I may not like the idea of possibly dating multiple women, I will give Lisanna the same chance. I'm not going to fight this if you plan on going with it, but I will not lead any of you along if I don't see it working out. I don't want more than one person to spend the rest of my life with that will help me raise Myou happily. I just need to find the one that is for us."

The three women sat there staring at the Dragon Slayer, shocked into silence. "Kami…" Millianna whispered as her cheeks darkened in a deep blush.

"You said it…" Mirajane said in concurrence.

Myou giggled and hugged herself into Natsu's side, happy to see him so passionate about their future.

Lisanna let out a shaky breath and shuddered. "I think I'm going to like seeing him this commanding…"

* * *

**This is starting to develop into an interesting chain of events, now isn't it!**


End file.
